Don Bernardo de Iriarte (1735–1814)

The portrait of Don Bernardo de Iriarte was painted in 1797 as an oil on canvas work measuring 108 × 85.1 cm. It is a copy after a Goya composition and depicts the sitter in a conventional portrait format. The painting entered the collection of Mary Emma Stillman Harkness before being acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view. Its creation is documented by the 1797 date recorded in the artist’s entry and the inception field of the museum record.

Bernardo de Iriarte (1735–1814) is represented in a 1797 oil‑on‑canvas portrait that closely follows the style of Francisco de Goya, as documented in the work’s catalogue entry and confirmed by its attribution as a copy after Goya. The painting, measuring 108 × 85.1 cm, depicts the Spanish diplomat in formal dress and was part of the collection of Mary Emma Stillman Harkness before entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view. Its classification as a portrait within the museum’s holdings situates it among late‑18th‑century Spanish elite portraiture, illustrating the neoclassical synthesis of Spanish aristocratic identity and Goya’s influential compositional approach.

This oil painting depicts Don Bernardo de Iriarte, a prominent figure, in a formal seated portrait. The artwork captures his serious demeanor, with his gaze directed outward. The composition emphasizes a sense of gravity and decorum, reflecting the sitter's status and the era's conventions for formal portraiture.