Among the best-known works of Franciso de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) , together with Picasso and Velazquez The three best Spanish painters in history, according to my humble opinion, are «The naked maja » and «The dressed maja «. There has been speculation about the "model" of these paintings, attributing the pose to the XIII Duchess of Alba (María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo y Silva Bazán), and even that between the artist and the “model” there was an affair – currently denied by a study by Manuela Mena, head of Conservation of Painting of the Century XVIII and Goya of the Prado Museum-. What no one can deny is that there was a great friendship between them and that he portrayed it on several occasions.
The XVIII Duchess of Alba (María del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva) newly married in first marriage, October 12, 1947, with Pedro Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artazcoz , received a proposal from Picasso to immortalize her for posterity just as Goya had done with his great-great-grandmother in 1800. In the words of Cayetana herself (abc.es):
-What really happened to Picasso?
-Picasso wanted to paint me like Goya's Maja, but my husband said no.
-And with your character, you didn't protest?
-I would have liked to, I was curious, but I really didn't dare go that far because of the criticism back then. Today life has changed a lot
From the photos of the time, I have no doubt that she was a woman "pleasing to the eye" but due to the current and continuous television bombardment of Cayetana de Alba, only current images come to mind, and…
