María del Carmen Terry luego I marquesa de Perinat

Painted in 1891 and held at the Museo del Prado, this portrait depicts María del Carmen Terry, who would become the first Marchioness of Perinat, a member of the wealthy Terry family whose Cuban sugar fortune financed an extravagant lifestyle in Madrid and Paris. The Terry family were important patrons of Spanish-Parisian painters, and Raimundo de Madrazo, already well-connected in both cities through his family and through the friendship with Ramón de Errazu, was a natural choice for an ambitious commissioned portrait. By 1891 Madrazo's society portraiture had reached its most assured maturity: the pose is elegant without stiffness, the dress — likely silk or taffeta — painted with the fluid confidence that had become his trademark, and the background handled with just enough atmospheric suggestion to frame the sitter without overwhelming her. Portraits of aristocratic and upper-bourgeois women were the economic engine of Madrazo's career, and the Prado's holding of this canvas ensures that a representative example of his commissioned society work is preserved within Spanish national collections.

The portrait is constructed on a warm mid-toned ground that unifies the overall colour harmony. Dress and décolletage are built with layered glazes and final impasto highlights, giving the fabric a three-dimensional presence. Madrazo uses a restrained but warm palette — ivory, pale rose, subtle gold — that flatters the sitter's complexion while maintaining overall tonal elegance.