Born on the 30th of March 1746 in Fuendetodos, Aragon, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes is seen as the last of the Old Masters. He began to study art at the age of 14, but his career did not kick off until 1771 when he received his first commission. Within four years Goya was working for the Spanish Royal Family.
His career continued to blossom until the 1790s when an unknown illness caused his deafness. His malady, the Napoleonic wars, and the death of his wife, all had an effect on the artist and much of his later work has a dark theme. He kept these works out of public view for the most part, and continued to paint lighter themed commissioned portraits.
Goya left Spain for Bordeaux in 1824 and it was here that he died of a stroke in 1828 at the age of 82.
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Painted directly onto the walls of the church in Aragon where Goya's brother-in-law was a monk, the frescos show scenes from Mary's life, up until Jesus' presentation at the temple. Just seven of the original eleven paintings remain. The rest were lost during the "Desamortizacion" of the 1830s, during which many Spanish monasteries were dissolved. The pictured painting is entitled Nacimiento de la Virgen, or Birth of the Virgin
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The series contains 63 pictures painted between 1775 and 1791. They all showed pleasant scenes of everyday life and were intended to brighten up the dining-room walls of the Royal Palace of El Pardo in Madrid
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It is a self-portrait painted when Goya was in his late 20s with a full head of long, flowing hair - a far cry from the more familiar grey and balding man painted by Vicente López y Portaña in 1826, which can be seen in the title image of this quiz
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The piece depicts a scene witnessed by Goya himself during his youth. In a letter to a friend the artist wrote, "a yard with lunatics, and two of them fighting completely naked while their warder beats them, and others in sacks; (it is a scene I witnessed at Zaragoza)"
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Goya's paintings of the supernatural are regarded as a criticism of the superstition found in the church and a mockery of the powers who promoted such primitive fears
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In 1800 Goya had painted La maja desnuda, a work almost identical to this one - but with the subject entirely naked. Both were painted for the Spanish Prime Minister Manuel Godoy, who had a reputation for womanising
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Suggested meanings of the piece are the common man crafting Spain's future on the anvil of history, resistence to Napoleon, or (more simply) the dignity of workmen
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The murals were painted between 1819 - 1823 in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars which had ravaged Europe. Goya was nearing the end of his life and had developed an interest in dark themes such as old age and death
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Bordeux is the town where Goya spent his final 4 years, before his death in 1828.
There is doubt amongst some art historians as to whether or not this painting was done by Goya, although most accept that it was. Rosario, the daughter of Leocadia Weiss (and possibly of Goya himself) was a student to the artist and some claim that it may be a work of hers, although the quality of this piece is superior to any of her known works |
Goya did not win the competition in which this piece was entered, although he did receive some encouraging praise from the judges