Rafael Esteve Vilella (1 July 1772, Valencia - 1 October 1847, Madrid) was a Spanish engraver in the Romantic style.
He was born to a family of artists. His father was the sculptor,, and his uncle was the painter, Agustín Esteve. He received his initial artistic instruction at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos, in Valencia, then moved to Madrid, where he continued his studies at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. During the reign of King Charles IV, he collaborated with the Royal chalcographers. During the Peninsular War, he lived in Cádiz. Upon the war's completion, he was able to fulfill his desires to continue his education in France and Italy.
Among his most engravings are illustrations for the first sextodecimo edition of Don Quixote, prepared and edited at the Royal Printers from 1797 to 1798; the "Vista of the Teatro Seguntino, Taken from the Stands", after a drawing by, for Architectural and Antiquarian Travels in Spain (1807); and the portraits of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII and their respective spouses, José de Palafox with his officers, and posthumous depictions of Francisco Pizarro, Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas and Jerónimo Gracián, which he created for Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards.
In 1839, he received the greatest honor of his career in the form of a gold medal at the Exposition des produits de l'industrie française, for his burin etching of Moses Striking Water from a Rock; after a painting by Bartolomé Murillo, the execution of which involved living in Seville for a time.
He was also awarded a cross in the Order of Charles III and named Honorary Director of the Academia de San Carlos. He was also an "Academic of Merit" at the Academia de San Fernando and a corresponding member of the Paris Academy.
In 1799, he was named the Court Engraver and executed portraits of the Royal Family, based on drawings made by his uncle, Agustín, after paintings by Francisco de Goya; for the Guía de Forasteros (a type of almanac). This enabled him to begin a friendship with Goya, who painted his portrait in 1815. Though not one of Goya's best-known works, it has considerable value. A replica of the work was the most expensive thing sold on the online retailer, Amazon, in 2022. It was valued at about $4 million.[1]
Esteve Vilella and Goya's friendship lasted despite the latter's exile from Spain (1824-1828) in his last years. In a letter to his son dated January 17, 1828, Goya signs with the postscript "«To Don Rafael Esteve a thousand thing, that I often remember."[2]