Description
This portrait was painted in 1801 to commemorate the victory in Portugal, the War of the Oranges, so named because Godoy, the Chief Minister, is said to have sent a gift of oranges to the Queen to celebrate. The Portuguese banners that stand out in the foreground were awarded to Godoy in July and in October he was appointed Generalissimo of Land and Sea, which gave him the right to wear a blue sash instead of the red sash of Captain General, which he wears here.
Goya has portrayed Godoy in an elaborate and unusual composition, in a reclining posture reminiscent of some of his paintings of women on divans, apparently inappropriate for the hero of a military victory. Goya's portrait hints at a lack of respect for the pomposity of his sitter, although Godoy was an important patron, a large-scale collector, for whom Goya painted many works, including the famous portrait of his wife, the Countess of Chinchon.