Sofia Wolfson

Dr. Cottrell

Art History 102

December 11th, 2018

The dynamicity of Francisco Goya’s life

Francisco Goya, born in 1746 in Fuendetodos, a desolate rural town in central Spain, is known for

his oil paintings, drawings and etchings. He is very prolific, making over 2000 works throughout

his life. in 1775 he moves to Madrid where he works in a tapestries shop, where he shows a

distinctive impulsive and gruff character. He has never received any literacy schooling and he

stands out as an amazing but “stuttering” painter. The tapestries he makes are for the royal palace,

making this is the first time he is immersed in a palatine environment that demands precision and

homogeneity. In the next decade he begins acquainting himself with the Spanish aristocracy as well

as the Academia Real de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San

Fernando), where his new ideas can thrive. The theme of quotidian life was very common 18th

century Spain we begin to see a rise of paintings portraying quotidian life, for example look at El

quitasol (1777) in appendix B. He becomes very well off, he lives in grand palaces, making money

painting lavish life in Madrid until he is appointed to be the First Chamber Painter of the Royal

Family in 1799. A year later, in 1800, he will begin painting Charles IV of Spain and his family

(1800-1801). Thanks to what he earns from portraying the Spanish nobility and aristocracy he later

begins to focus more on his personal interests. Goya is sick with a disease that makes him lose his

hearing, leading him to introspection and isolation later on in his life leading to the social criticism

and pessimism in his paintings. He is a man who is sensitive to his epoch, in 1808 he witnesses the

Peninsular War where Napoleon tries to conquer Spain, inspiring his painting The Third of May

1808 (1814). After the return of Ferdinand VII to power, Goya sees his friends, mostly liberals and

Francophiles, persecuted by the Spanish inquisition. Having liberal ideals himself he distances

himself from the nobility and in 1819, at the age of 73, goes to live by himself in a country house
near Madrid. With isolation fueling his distress he creates a series of 14 murals directly onto the

walls of his house, entitled The Black Paintings (1819-1823). Nearing 80, Goya moves to French

town of Bordeaux where he will be buried. Goya went from conforming to society to becoming a

critic of its own institutions and figures.

2. Goya, in a similar way to his contemporaries, breaks from baroque style while bot embracing and

opposing neoclassical rationalism. Such as in his earlier works there are neoclassical influences

such as in his structuring of figure in geometric compositions such as in La Gallina Ciega (1789)

and even his portrait of the royal family. It is difficult to place him in a specific artistic current as

his paintings can be seen as precursors to not only romanticism but also realism, expressionism and

surrealism. A range of Romantic themes are present: such as questioning the corrupt nobility, war,

human sacrifice and ignorance. Romanticism displayed art to a new sensibility of human emotion

and inner exploration. Goya thrives on romantic dramatism, with it’s depictions of suffering and

life. He explored the position of the dynamic and emotional man within nature especially later in his

life.

3. Goya works as a painter for the royal family while despising this class seeing them as stupid and

self-indulgent. It takes one year after he is appointed as an official painter to make the life size

portrait of the royal family Charles IV of Spain and his family (1800-1801, 280cm x 336cm). It is

the first portrait he does of the entire family.

4. In the right foreground is King Charles IV with a brown coat covered in medals. He has such an

ordinary and mundane face, that if it not for his attire, it would be hard to distinguish him as King.

Even his position in the painting on the side rather than center is unusual as the King would be

expected to be the focal point. Instead, standing center, is his wife Queen Maria Luisa. This is a

reference to her power: she is the actual leader of the family, as she holds and leads her two
children. To her left is the young future heir to the throne, King Fernando VII in a blue jacket.

There are hypotheses that the woman facing the back wall is Fernando’s future wife who’s face is

blurred because her identity was still unknown. In the red, to his left, is his younger brother Carlo

and to his right the sister of King Charles IV, Josefa. She is painted really poorly and placed in the

shadows to not attract attention, just like their other brother directly behind King Charles. To his

right is a woman’s profile who’s identity is unknown. The couple holding the baby are the Duke

and Duchess of Parma. The royals are adorned with jewels, that can be seen as vulgar and

disrespectful. Goya’s self-portrait can be seen in the shadows on the far left behind all the other

figures. This is not the painters perspective. The room is bare, with only two paintings and no other

details emphasizing their riches. Their proximity to the wall forces the viewer to focus their gaze on

the members of the family.

The technique he uses are ample and quick brush strokes, with a vast array of colors on especially

on the figures. Goya uses light and shadow possibly following enlightenment ideals, where light

serves to find truth and shadows to cover ignorance. In this case, the light underlines their beautiful

garments but also highlights all their defects. The youngest figures of this painting are not under the

spotlight and their faces do not seem as distorted as the others. This could signify their innocence

within the disastrous administration of Spain under King Charles. Goya continues to outrage the

aristocracy with the painting of the Nude Maja (1797-1800), a commissioned painting from

Minister Godoy of a young woman that he then replicated with and without her clothes. By doing

this he is humanizing the Royals, the driving force for a revolutionary instinct, to abolish the divine

right of kings. The painting of the Nude Maja will later on be confiscated after it is judged as

obscene by the Spanish inquisition.

7. In 1808 Napoleon’s army invades Spain starting their war of independence that will last another

six years. Guerilla tactics were coined during this war, and there were many unruly and bloody
battles. Napoleon convinces Charles IV that they can conquer Portugal together, but in reality this

was just a ploy to take over Spain and the Gibraltar straight. After the attack from Napoleon, King

Charles is forced to abdicate in favor for Napoleon’s brother, Joseph. After continuous rebelling

finally, in 1814, King Ferdinand VII is restored to power. Goya sees him as authoritarian and

conservative, in complete contrast to the enlightened values of Napoleon. He hoped that one day

there would be a Spanish reformation as in France, but the violence that came along forced him to

further himself from these ideas. He produces a set of 82 intaglio prints, The Disasters of War, that

portray the clashes between the Spanish guerrillas and the French troupes and all the negative

consequences on civilians. The plates denounce the barbaric universal truth of war and death, even

transcending any nationalistic ideals. At that time patriots were always portrayed as heroes, but

Goya portrays both sides as horrific. He also produces one of his most famous paintings The Third

of May 1808, along with it’s pair The Second of May 1808 (1814). The Second of May 1808

shows the rebellion itself, whereas The Third of May 1808 is the scene following the rebellion in

1808 where hundreds of Spanish rebels were round up and shot.

The Third of May 1808 (1814, 268cm x 347cm), was commissioned after Goya’s proposal by the

provisional government in 1814. This painting highlights emotions: such as incredulity,

desperation, fear and resignation, all explored through the facial expressions and their bodies

positions. This scene is so vivid that some historians suggest he witnessed the scene himself. The

incident happens in the dark of the night, only a lantern emitting a yellow glowing light illuminates

the scene. In the background we can see the opaque and still town, possibly, Madrid. There are two

groups of men. The firing squad is anonymous, it could be anyone, perfectly aligned and almost

robotic. They are rigid in comparison to the dynamicity of the condemned. There is no heroic

gesture in this figure, just the horrors of wars. Each person reacts to their impending death in a

different way. The focus of the picture is on the central figure, the man with his raised arms,

illuminated by the light. He is wearing typical rustic farmers clothing. The white shirt, compared to
the monotone greys and blacks of the picture seems like the last source of light before the dark

tonalities of the picture engulf him too. The men standing around him each represent the general

Spanish feelings towards the war, such as anger, represented by the man with the clenched fist or

resignation from the man sitting on one knee. The man covering his face with his hands is

humiliated and the rest of the men in the photo are looking at the soldiers with hate. The scene

happens in a small confined space, where the two groups have to confront themselves at a small

distance, where the victims are pushed against a small hill, with only the cuboid lantern separating

them from their death. Goya’s views on the war are clear. He is against glorifying its acts and it’s

ideations, he would rather portray its atrocities and brutalities.

9. Not only does he help establish the Romantic current, he also anticipates expressionism and even

impressionism through his use of wide brush strokes, his use of color to deform and reflect the inner

reality of a painting. As he is reaching the final years of his life there is political turmoil in Spain.

After the abolition of the constitution by King Ferdinand VII, Spaniards, especially in liberal-

progressive circles, go from seeing him as the liberator from Napoleonic rule to limiting their

liberty. As he begins painting his Black Paintings in 1919 the military conspires a coup that forces

the King to sign a more progressive and liberal constitution, beginning what is known as the Trienio

Liberal (Liberal Three Years) from 1820 to 1823.

With the end of the Spanish inquisition Goya becomes free to create the most repulsive and

scandalous works of his life. He is now in his seventies and is growing sick as he documents in

Self-portrait with Dr Arrieta (1820) where he is lying in bed taken care for from his doctor. He

executes these oil paintings directly on the walls of the first and second floors of “La Quinta Del

Sordo” (house of the deaf), his isolated house in the Madrilean hills. He paints allegorical and

discomforting scenes with dark, opaque colors, mostly using grey, blacks, “dirty” whites and strong

yellows and reds. They cover subjects of death and pain, mythology, witchery and superstitions. For
three years he paints using his whole soul, showing us his capacity to understand the horrid, the

contort and the ugly of nature. Some of these paintings such as La Leocadia (1819-1823) have been

said to have been painting on pre-existing murals of the house. The positioning of the figures over a

sublime but obscure landscape creates this feeling of uneasiness. The proportions between the

figures and the background are not appropriate such as in Fight with Cudgels (1819-1823), where

the two men standing are dynamic yet immortalized by standing out of the background. In Atropos

(The Fates) (1819-1823) the figures are floating in the foreground in front of a beautiful back drop

of a meandering river. It should be noted that none of the titles to these paintings are given by Goya

but by later scholars.

Just like in The Fates, in Saturn Devouring His Son (1819-1823, 13x81cm) his imaginary and

nature collide. In this painting we can see madness in the eyes of Saturn as he gives way to his fears

and kills his sons one by one, devouring them. Only Zeus manages to save himself from his father.

This work is filled with violence and gruesome details, for example look at the manner in which he

grabs his son as if he were a hunting prey. The child is already missing his head and an arm with the

gushing with blood from his wounds. Saturn, also known as Chronos, has long grey hair and big,

wide open eyes. He looks like he has lost all reason as is doing these killing mindlessly. Some

scholars say that his genitals were obscured because too obscene. The rest of the painting is

undefined and dark, even the floor he is kneeling on seems to blend in with the background. The

scene is a dark tone of gray whereas Saturn is painted of maroon and ocra. No cool colors are

present and the only expressive color is the red from the blood. The focal point that the highlights

create is the bare back of Saturn’s son, who’s flesh gives off a mortal pallor. The contours of the

figures are defined from the spots of bright and dark colors.

This painting was found, ironically, on his kitchen wall. The motivations behind this painting can

be hypothesized to recall the conflict between youth and age, as the elderly destroy the future

generations. It can also be traced to representing the Spanish government (Saturn) ruining the lives
of its citizens war after war. Goya was probably inspired by Rubens’ Saturn (1636), as the

composition is very similar. However the expression of Rubens’ Saturn is much more gelid and not

one of dynamic insanity like Goya.

This is a man who is constantly changing within his lifetime, with and against society. He is both a

Romantic and Neoclassicist, inspired by political revolutions and the values of the enlightenment.

He begins as an exponent of the Rococo period, depicting scenes of pleasure of the aristocracy, to

being official court painter where he represents the family the way he believes they truly are. He is

struggling with belief systems and philosophical ideals, torn between love for his Spain and the

liberties that Napoleon brings from strict Catholic and monarchical rule. He denounces war,

showing it’s mass executions and does not glorify neither the rebel nor the oppressor. There are

universal truths that Goya now understands about the horror that man does to man. As he becomes a

hermit he continues to explore the horrors of humanity through deep introspection and isolation.

The progressive dark nature of his works through his lifetime could be because of the degenerating

political environment, his health, the decrease in political censure and even the amount of

commissions he was getting. It can also be argued that his grotesque vision was always present, as

we saw in the features of Charles IV and His Family. These paintings will keep being relevant as

long as humanity exists. It is important to confront the dark side of human nature, to avoid repeating

such mistakes or for introspection. There are universal truths about man that have remained the

same since the times of ancient Greece, to this day. He explores the cycle of human life and death

and targets the vulnerabilities of man creating a collection of paintings that evoke the most vast, and

opposite, range of human emotion.

APPENDIX A

Charles IV of Spain and his family (1800-1801)

The Third of May of 1808 (1814)

Saturn Devouring His Son (1819-1823)
APPENDIX B

El Quitasol (1777)

La Gallina Ciega (1789)

Nude Maja (1797-1800)

The Second of May 1808 (1814)

The self-portrait with Dr Arrieta (1820)

Leocadia (1819-1823)
Fight with Cudgels (1819-1823)

Atropos (1819-1823)
Peter Paul Rubens, Saturn (1636-1638)
WORKS CITED

Gasset, José Ortega y, et al. ORTEGA Y GASSET, VELAZQUEZ, GOYA AND THE
DEHUMANIZATION OF ART. STUDIO VISTA, 1972.

Hull, Anthony H. Goya: Man among Kings. Hamilton Press, 1987.

Lepore, Mario. The Life & Times of Goya. Curtis, 1967.

Licht, Fred. Goya in Perspective. Publisher Not Identified, 1973.

Muller, Priscilla E. “Discerning Goya.” Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 31, 1996, pp. 175–187.,
doi:10.2307/1512980.

Olszewski, Edward J. “Exorcising Goya's ‘The Family of Charles IV.’” Artibus Et Historiae, vol.
20, no. 40, 1999, p. 169., doi:10.2307/1483673.

Prokop, Ellen. “Ellen Prokop. Review of ‘August L. Mayer y La Pintura Española: Ribera, Goya, El
Greco, Velázquez’ by Teresa Posada Kubissa.” Caa.reviews, 2018,
doi:10.3202/caa.reviews.2018.114.