‘The Young Virgin with San Joaquin and Santa Ana’. This is the painting that the Museum of Fine Arts of Álava, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, exhibits after being in a private home for at least the last half century.
In July 2011 was announced this unknown work, with attribution to Francisco de Goya (1746-1828). Thanks to its exhibition, the general public can see it, after being ignored its authorship in a private house.
Its purpose is religious, for a private oratory or as definitive model for an altar. It represents the Virgin Mary as a small Immaculate Conception between her parents, and the Holy Ghost upon them. A foreshadowing of the incarnation of Christ through the Annunciation.
The award is based on criteria of style and quality and is recognized. In Goya’s work relates stylistically to the set of murals Zaragoza Aula Dei of 1774, and that seems the most likely date for the painting. By then a still young Goya was preparing to go to Madrid to work for Carlos III, continuing his remarkable career.
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
The Virgin Girl with San Joaquin and Santa Ana, around 1774
Oil painting on canvas
96’6 x 74’7 cm
Vitoria-Gasteiz, private collection
Source: DFA