María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba (María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez de Toledo, XIII duquesa de Alba)

On this occasion Goya painted the Duchess of Alba dressed in mourning. She is shown outdoors, standing in a natural landscape which could be the outskirts of Sanlúcar de Barrameda or the floodplains of the Guadalquivir river, where the Duchess went when her husband, the Duke of Alba, died in 1796, and where Goya also lived for a time, producing an album of drawings (Sanlúcar Album) and some paintings.

The Duchess' pose is striking: she is pointing to Goya's signature on the ground, which is written upside-down, intended to be read by the lady. She is wearing two rings on the hand with which she points; they are inscribed with the words "Goya" and "Alba".

She is dressed very elegantly. A red sash tied at her waist lends a touch of colour to the composition, as do her sleeves, which are embellished with some gold motifs.

In contrast to the previous Goya portrait of the Duchess in which she is wearing white and wears her hair down, in this work her hair is covered with a lace veil. She is also wearing white clogs which peep out from under her dress - a fashionable item at the time, and extremely well depicted by the artist.

Her face, rather expressionless, is dominated by her large dark eyes; her cheeks are lightly rouged, as was the fashion of the period.

Various copies exist of this work.