Tiburcio Pérez Cuervo

Tiburcio Pérez Cuervo (Oviedo, 1785/1786-Madrid, ? 1841), nephew of the architect and director of the Royal Academy of San Fernando, Juan Antonio Cuervo, studied architecture at this same academy. He was a good friend of Goya, demonstrated by the fact that, when the painter left for Bordeaux, he left Rosario Weiss in his care, with whom the girl continued to practise her artistic skills.

This painting of Tiburcio Pérez is one of Goya's most interesting portraits. The spontaneity and the informal manner with which he is depicted are a clear result of the friendship that united the two men. The subject appears in a very natural pose: standing, almost in profile and with his arms folded. He is wearing a dark waistcoat and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Since this is not an official portrait, he wears no jacket. There is no element that links him to his profession, except perhaps for the detail of the rolled-up sleeves, as if he were getting ready to work on some project or other. His intelligent face reveals a charismatic, fun-loving personality. The brushwork is vigorous, with the trails of white on the shirt sleeve standing out in particular. The dark background places this portrait close to the last ones that Goya was to make in Bordeaux, which had increasingly simple compositions and were more energetically executed.

The naturalism of this portrait recalls that of Ramón Satué, another of the key works of Goya's portraiture.