Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter of the late 18th and early 19th centuries who served as court painter to king Charles IV. He is known for several series of works, including Los Caprichos, The Disasters of War, and The Black Paintings. His masterpiece was the political protest painting, The Third of May, 1808.
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CHARLES IV
Goya was the court painter to Spanish King Charles IV and painted many portraits of the king and his family. In this role, he also painted several portraits of prime minister Manuel Godoy. The two would become friends, and Godoy would be a patron of Goya later in life.
NUDE MAJA/CLOTHED MAJA
Godoy hired Goya to create two reclining portraits of Godoy’s mistress, one nude and one clothed. The resulting paintings are now known as the Nude Maja and the Clothed Maja. Many scholars theorize that the woman depicted is the Duchess of Alba.
THE THIRD OF MAY, 1808
Goya’s best known painting is The Third of May, 1808, which depicts a Spanish uprising against invading French forces during the Peninsular War phase of the Napoleonic Wars. The war was a common theme for Goya, inspiring his series of etchings known as the Disasters of War. In the painting, an unarmed Spanish man raises his hands high in the face of a French firing squad. The man wears a plain white shirt and yellow pants, and the scene is lit only by a box lantern that stands between the man and the soldiers. Goya’s painting The Charge of the Mamelukes is a companion to The Third of May, 1808.
THE SLEEP OF REASON PRODUCES MONSTERS
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is an engraving from Goya’s series Los Caprichos. The image is that of a young artist (many presume it to be Goya himself) who has fallen asleep at his desk amidst his drawing tools. Above him are an ominous swarm of bats and several owls who watch over him as he sleeps. Like the rest of Los Caprichos, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters makes use of the aquatint technique of engraving.
BLACK PAINTINGS
Late in his life, Goya moved into a house in Madrid known as Quinta del Sordo (Villa of the Deaf Man) - named for its previous owner, a deaf man. On the walls of the villa, Goya painted fourteen paintings, notable for their darkness - both in color and in subject matter. The best known of these “black paintings” are Fight with Cudgels and Saturn Devouring His Children.
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Quizbowl is about learning, not rote memorization, so we encourage you to use this as a springboard for further reading rather than as an endpoint. Here are a few things to check out:
* Learn more about the background of Goya’s Third of May, 1808, by reading this article from Mental Floss.
* Goya’s Quinta del Sordo was demolished in 1909, but you can take a virtual tour of the house and see how the Black Paintings were arranged HERE.
* How did Goya’s Maja paintings get him in trouble with the Spanish Inquisition? Listen to this story from NPR below:
* How did Goya’s disturbed mind lead him to create Saturn Devouring His Children and other Black Paintings? Watch:
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