Manuel Godoy

Although there exist no documents regarding the commissioning of this work, Goya alludes to it in a letter written to his friend Martín Zapater in 1795: "You had better come to help me paint the [Duchess] of Alba, who barged into the studio to have her face painted by me, and she got her way; I certainly prefer this to painting on canvas, and I will also have to paint her full-length, which I will do as soon as I have finished a sketch that I am making of the Duke of La Alcudia on horseback...". In the painting, probably a study or sketch, Godoy is shown, in the mould of Velázquez, mounted on a horse which is in the levade position, lifting its forelegs off the ground, in sharp profile and with a serious and determined look upon his face. The royal favourite is wearing the uniform of Captain General of the Royal Guard, a rank he achieved in May 1793, and is showing off the sash of the Order of Charles III, which he was awarded in 1791.

There exists a painting of similar dimensions entitled A Picador and dated Ca. 1791-1792, x-rays of which have revealed that underneath the visible painting there is another equestrian portrait of Manuel Godoy. The overpainting, made around 1808, would coincide with Godoy's fall from grace.