Multi-band technical imaging in the research of the execution of paintings. The case study of the portrait of Carlos IV, by Francisco de Goya

MBTI has lead us to discover the trial-and-error method used by Goya who, reluctant to work in any other way than the one that involved the live model, adjusted every necessary detail until achieving the portrait. Therefore, the painting may be considered the original prototype of the portrait of King Carlos IV, the one created and patented by Goya between February and April 1789, which generated several replicas with the exact same dimensions. Such copies only modified the color of the jackets, the dimensions of the canvas, and the context decoration: curtains, tables and crown. However, all of them displayed identical measurements with respect to the upper and main parts of the Sovereign’s portrayed body. Throughout the different images of the MBTI the way in which the portrait was executed has been shown, revealing hidden parts that help to order the steps and stages of the creative process for this particular painting.