The Duchess of Alba - Maribel Verd™

Discovered at the age of fourteen by director Vicente Aranda, Maribel Verd™ has won over critics, industry and public alike since the start of her career. Fernando Trueba, Bigas Luna and JosÈ Luis GarcÌ have worked with her repeatedly, though Maribel Verd™ maintains a close relationship with theatre and TV. Carlos Saura called her into "Goya in Bordeaux" because he sees her not only as a great actress, but as having the same fire, spontaneity and beauty as the Duchess of Alba.

The Duchess of Alba is one of the most controversial and magnetic figures in Goya's life. In 1794, Goya and the Duchess began an intense, stormy relationship which reflected the characters of both, particularly of the Duchess Cayetana. In 1796, Goya moved to the recently-widowed Duchess' country estate, in the Andalucian town of Sanlucar de Barrameda, where they lived together for eleven months. During that time Goya carried out a famous series of drawings of women in which the domestic life of his lover is shown in all its detail. The Duchess' rivalry with Queen MarÌa Luisa de Parma, the wife of Charles IV, make for some of the most comic pages in Spanish history. Legend has it that Cayetana de Alba was poisoned by her many enemies. Whether or not it is true, this strange woman's mysterious death certainly puts the crowning touch on a character who had nothing in common with the feminine archetype of the 18th century.

"I don't think many people will ever come to really understand her. She was the richest woman in Spain, and she likes to go against the flow. She dressed in exactly the way she wanted, and it seems that she was very whimsical, but she had a wonderful sense of humor. She got on so badly with Queen MarÌa Luisa that when she heard that the queen had ordered a dress from the court dressmaker, she went and had one made for all her maids which was exactly the same."

Duchess: Why do you want to paint me naked?
Goya: Because I like seeing you the way God brought you into the world. We're all the same before the Lord when our clothes are off.
Duchess: Not me. I don't look like anyone. I'm me.
Goya: Exactly ... you're Cayetana ... the Duchess of Alba ... Duchess: Let's see if you understand this ... you're a barbarian who'll never learn to behave properly. You're a very basic lover, even though you do have a certain sensitivity, and lastly, you're arrogant and stubborn. If you repeat back to me what I've just said, then I'll give you a reward.
(Extract from the script of "Goya in Bordeaux")

Selected filmography of Maribel Verd™

1998 "Frontera Sur," by Gerardo Herrero "El Entusiasmo," by Ricardo LarraÌn "La Capital del Mundo," by Eric Barbier
1997 "Carreteras Secundarias," by Emilio MartÌnez Lazaro "La Buena Estrella," by Ricardo Franco
1996 "Las Celestina," by Gerardo Vera
1994 "CanciÛn de Cuna," by JosÈ Luis GarcÌ
1992 "Huevos de Oro," by Bigas Luna
1991 "Amanates," by Vicente Aranda
1990 "Belle Epoque," by Fernando Trueba
1985 "El AÒo de Las Luces," by Fernando Trueba