The Meadows Museum recently announced the acquisition of 29 ivory miniatures of the court and family of King Charles IV of Spain painted by Francisca Ifigenia Meléndez.

Portraits include images of the king, Queen Maria Luisa de Parma, Prince Fernando, and Manual Godoy, the prime minister. There are many other court figures that have not been identified. A letter dating 1795 from the queen requesting more portraits is also included in the acquisition.

The portraits will be on permanent display this fall at the Meadows Museum. The museum purchased the miniatures with funds donated by the Meadows Foundation.

“The addition of these rare, representative works by Francisca Meléndez, member of a prominent dynasty of Spanish artists and painter of portraits of the royal family, is quite significant for us,” Museum Director Dr. Mark Roglán said in an SMU press release. “The acquisition not only adds to our overall holdings of royal portraiture, but it shows figures from the court of Charles IV who were patrons of other artists in our collection, such as Goya, so provides an important link to a number of 18th-century works on display at the Meadows.”

Roglán says the acquisition marks the first example of the miniature genre. Miniatures, according to Roglán, “played a vital role in court life and royal relations, serving as important mementos, tokens of affection or for formal introductions.”

Meléndez is the first female painter to be represented in the Meadows Collection.

She was born in 1770 to a family of artists. Her uncle, Luis Meléndez, was a still-life painter. Her grandfather, Francisco Antonio Meléndez, and father, José Agustín Meléndez were miniaturists.

The Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid named Meléndez Académica de Mérito (Academic of Merit) after she painted a miniature Virgin and Child. She was 20 years old.

Meléndez became the Pintora y Retratista de Cámara (Painter and Portraitist of the Court) in 1794 after she painted the king and queen.