The painting in question is called "Portrait of a Lady" — or alternately, "Mi Novia" (meaning my girlfriend or my betrothed, depending on the translation). Juan Luna (pictured above) was a skilled painter, but he was ... not a good man (at least, certainly not by 21st-century standards). According to Esquire, he was a jealous, hot-tempered, and violent man, not above beating his partners within an inch of their life if they crossed him. He met Paz Pardo de Tavera in Paris sometime before 1886, married her that year, and murdered her in 1892.
We'll spare you the graphic details of their marriage; suffice it to say it was dysfunctional and abusive. And it came to a head on September 23, 1892, when an enraged Luna showed up where his estranged wife was staying with one of her brothers. The brother was not home, but per Esquire, Paz's son and her mother, Juliana, were there. He shot Juliana, who died instantly. Paz died a couple of days later.
What does this have to do with the painting? The subject of Portrait of a Lady is probably Paz, although liberties appear to have been taken with her appearance (the woman in the painting has fair European skin, while Paz herself had a darker skin tone). The subject may have been a model, or the painting may simply be an idealized depiction of what he thought the perfect woman might look like.
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