Marie-Anne Waldstein
Marie-Anne Waldstein (Mariana Fernanda Waldstein) was an Austrian‑Spanish aristocrat and painter. She was born in Vienna on May 30, 1763, the daughter of Count Emanuel Philibert von Waldstein-Wartenberg and sister of Ferdinand von Waldstein, an early patron of Beethoven. At 18 she married the widowed Spanish Marquis of Santa Cruz, José Joaquín de Silva-Bazán, who was 47. They moved to Spain, where she studied painting with Isidro Carnicero.
Her talent earned her recognition from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando after she sent a portrait of her hand to the academy, which led to her being named Honorary Director and Academic of Merit for Painting. She mainly painted miniatures and worked with Saxon painters Dubois and Heltz. Francisco Goya painted a portrait of her in 1797 or 1799; the painting is now in the Louvre. There were rumors she had affairs with French diplomats Ferdinand Guillemardet (in 1798) and Lucien Bonaparte (1800–1802).
Her husband died in 1802 and she moved to Italy, leaving a portrait she had painted in Florence. Florence’s academy, and later Rome’s San Lucas, named her an Academician of Merit. She returned to Spain briefly in 1805, then went back to Italy, where she continued to paint and copied works by masters such as Caravaggio, Titian, and Il Garofalo. She died in Fano, Italy, on June 21, 1808, aged 45. She and José Joaquín de Silva-Bazán had four children.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:50 (CET).