Great ladies mourn the death of the Countess of Chinchon

It is difficult to speak of the Countess of Chinchon and not to allude to Goya canvas that dominates the room 37 of the Prado Museum . Oil, 216 by 144 centimeters, immortalizes Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain and Vallabriga , cousin of Carlos IV, Manuel Godoy consort and third Countess of Chinchon . A few days ago he died in Madrid Rosario Herbosch and Huidobro, the seventh countess. Unlike its predecessor, which attracts millions of tourists to the Prado, Rosario was a mystery to the masses .Not so for "society", which was part almost by divine right.

Actually, Rosario Herbosch and Huidobro was, by his marriage to Carlos Ruspoli and Morenés , Duchess of Alcudia, Duchess of Sueca, Countess of Chinchon and Grandee of Spain. But his friends say he had a special affection for the county because it was closely linked to a woman the likes ofInfanta Maria Teresa of Spain , who in turn received it from the hands of his brother, Louis de Bourbon , archbishop of Toledo and Seville Cardinal of Santa Maria della Scala.

Wedding Rosario and Carlos Ruspoli was worthy of kings. They married in 1980 in the palace of Infante Don Luis, this architectural gem that raised Ventura Rodriguez for the Infante Luis Antonio Jaime de Borbón and Farnesio in Boadilla del Monte and remained in the hands of the Ruspoli family, direct descendants of the "prince of the peace "until the 90s of last century.

Admired by all

Rosario, seventh Countess of Chinchon, was the soul of discretion. In his life only he gave an interview to ABC, in the 70s, to talk about what he knew best: the knowledge to be. "I would define as the beautiful elegant way to carry things, getting dressed with the right at all times" he said in a conversation with journalist Blanca Berasategui . "But are not the clothes that make people, but the opposite , " he added. According to the duchess twice, the secret of feminine grace lay "in the movements, gait, in the way they talk ." With that delicacy which she flaunted the admiration and friendship of great women on the national scene as socialites won Isabel Preysler and Cari Lapique , Princess Wanda de Ligne , the designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, the journalist and writer Marta Robles, to name a few.

Many of them came last February 8th Countess's funeral in the Sacramental of San Isidro, in the pantheon of the Dukes of Sueca. He was 72 years old and his death was unexpected. Despite its beauty and distinction, Herbosch never awakened envy among the great ladies with whom he shared evenings and confidences. It was always a guide to their peers females.They say those who knew that it was "the matriarch" between his three sisters: Bethlehem, Olivia and Carmen . And since he had no children, she was also a mother to her seven nephews.

Selling a box

Elegantly discreet, marriage Ruspoli-Herbosch knew to stay away from the spotlight for decades. Until in 1999 they decided to sell the famous painting "The Countess of Chinchon " of Francisco de Goya to a Spanish private collector who was ready to pay 4,000 million pesetas (more than 24 million euros) for this work previously wanted magnates like Armenian Calouste Gulbenkian or the heirs of American J. Paul Getty.

Being a piece category of Cultural Interest, the transaction was notified to the State, which had preemption. He exercised and the work ended up in the Prado. The delivery took place in February 2000. After three administrative lawsuits and administrative appeal, the Aznar government paid off the debt with the Ruspoli in two installments: 2,500 million pesetas (15,025,302.60 euros) in January 2001 and 1,500 million (9,015,181.56 euros) in July of that year.

The owners of "The Countess of Chinchon" (Ruspoli and his brothers) sued the State for the "no respect" conditions of sale of the work and the case went to the Strasbourg Court, which ruled that they had not been harmed with the operation. The statement recalled that the painting was exhibited in a gallery, with what "the general interest of society had been so privileged."And he noted that the plaintiffs "had not borne a disproportionate or undue burden" for the forced sale to the state. After all, Carlos Ruspoli still had to Rosario, his own Countess of Chinchon, who made her walk and talk art.