Brief Biography-Vicente López Portaña of Valencia was a painter of religious, historical, symbolic, and mythological subjects; however, he was first and foremost a portraitist. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and worked as an apprentice to Mariano Salvador de Maella. However, Anton Raphael Mengs influenced him the most. Ferdinand VII made him a court painter in 1815. In 1817, he was director of the Academy of San Fernando and became director of the Prado in 1823. Finally, he settled in Madrid, painting numerous notables; his most celebrated portrait was of Francisco de Goya, regarded as his best portrait. His two sons Luis López Piquer, and Bernardo López Piquer, were also painters. Vicente López Portaña’s portrait was on a 25-peseta banknote.