by Tim McNeese
A Disturbing Turn of Events
97
long ago. Perhaps Goya had seen examples of it during his
youthful Italian sojourn. Yet Goya constructed the painting
tomakeituniquelyhis.Insteadofaheavymarblebalustrade,
though,Goyapaintedasimpleringrailingofwoodwithiron
posts.Thesettingisoutdoors,featuringbluemountains,afew
treesandapale,whitishsky.Goyahasplacedhiswitnessesall
around the false barrier of painted wood and iron, with St.
Anthony standing higher than all of them, a miracle worker
tobeseen.
Yet, each of the assembled respond uniquely to the
miracle.Somedonotseemsurprisedatall.Childrenatplay,
scramblingfortherailing,missitcompletely.Otherslookover
thebalconytothechurchfloorbelow,leavingvisitorstowatch
the people in the fresco watching them. Color is everywhere
becausethepaintingispopulatedwithcommonpeople,their
clothing featuring street splashes of mauves, browns, and
deepblues.Allthisissetagainstskirts,shawls,andcloaksof
white,jade,andhotorange.Theskyisgrayandleaden,butthe
peoplearefitforamiracleorevenabullfight.Goya’scrowd
istough,butthecompositionsingsofholinessdispensingjus-
tice.Allthisisdonewithbrushstrokesanynineteenth-century
impressionistpainterwouldbeproudof.Withthedomerising
30feet(9.1m)abovethefloor,Goyasawnoneedtoputfine
detailonfiguresthatwouldbelostinthevisualdistancefrom
floortoceiling.So,
...aslashofblackpaintwithablobontheenddefinesaneye-
lidandapupil;anotherlash,theshadowunderacheekboneor
amouth....Thecloseryoulook,themoremodernthefrescoes
get.OnceagainoneseeswhyGoya’saccumulatedmeaningfor
painterscouldonlyincreaseasthenineteenthcenturymoved
towardthetwentieth.91
With the dome covered in the miracle scene, Goya was
lefttodecoratethechurch’snooksandcrannies,panels,and
arches.Goyaturnsthingsupsidedownbyfillingthesespaces
98
FRANCISCO GOyA
with angels who are below the dome, rather than hovering
above it, as angels typically did in other church art. Goya’s
angels are gorgeous, modern, and sensual. Angels previously
were usually painted as sweet choirboys, but Goya chose to
paint them as down-to-earth feminine angels dressed in the
rich silks and gauzy muslins Spanish girls wore at the end
of the eighteenth century. They are pretty things, with their
eyesbright,fairskins,andrubylips.Theyarehardlystylized
heavenlybeings.Theyaremorelikeattractivegirlssuitedup
indrapesofrichlycoloredfabrics.Onemoderncritic,empha-
sizing a comparison between the frescoes’ subject matter to
thatofthelaternineteenth-centuryimpressionists,notedhow
the“angelsonthependentives[domesupports]seemtohave
emergedfromthestudioofAugusteRenoir,sofararetheyin
advanceoftheirtime.”92
8
Rising Star,
Dark Shadows
These were extraordinarily productive days for Goya. Not
only did he work on the San Antonio frescoes and several
commissionedportraits,buthealsocompletedaworktitled
The Betrayal of Christ for the Cathedral of Toledo. Within
just a few months of the completion of the frescoes at San
AntoniodelaFlorida,Goyaannouncedthepublicationofa
collectionofetchedprintshehadbeenworkingonforsev-
eralyears.Itwasagroupofapproximately80startling,dis-
turbingetchingsthatGoyatitledas Caprichos (The Caprices).
Theworksweremostlydonefollowingtheprolongedillness
thathaddeliveredGoyaneardeath’sdoor,onlytoleavehim
physicallycrushedandtotallydeaf.
THE CAPRICES
ThecollectionofblacklineetchingswentonsaleinFebruary
1799.Theseverecontent,however,wasnotpopularandeven
99
100 FRANCISCO GOyA
struckanerveonthepartoflateeighteenth-centurySpanish
society. By order of the Inquisition, the collection was with-
drawn from sale after only two days. Goya had sold only 27
copies,includingfoursetstothedukeandduchessofOsuna,
hislongtimepatronsandfriends.
Technically, they were wonders of print work. Goya
revealedjusthowmuchhehadmasteredthemediumofetch-
ingworksonblanksheetsofcopy.Yettheyweretheworkofa
mannearlymadwithillnesswithaconstantringinginhisears.
Theyaredarkworks,filledwithmacabrescenesthattorment
theirvictims;satiresthatrevealthefoolishnessofman.They
werewell-intendedworks,fornearlyallwereaccompaniedby
amoralorwatchphrasemeanttowarnandinform.
ManypeoplethoughtthatGoya’setchingsweretoodark,
too negative, too cynical, too inflammatory, and too mod-
ern. Goya mocked all sorts of social behaviors and institu-
tions—prostitution,superstition,vicesandvanities,andeven
the Inquisition. His critics claimed that the etchings would
frightentheweakminded:therearedreamsfilledwithwinged
monsters, naked witches fly through the air on broomsticks,
anangryhorsebitesawoman.Thereisanunhappilymarried
couple tied together, literally struggling to be free. There are
hobgoblins,apparitions,phantoms,andahangedman.Allis
dark,follytrapsGoya’ssubjects,andthestupidareeverywhere
andalwayswithus:itisthewayoftheworld.
Goya cautions his viewers not only through his etchings
but through the captions that accompany them, just in case
thesymbolismofawingedyoungladyintheclutchesofapair
oflecherousmenwasnotclearenough:“Thesleepofreason
producesmonsters.”“Theworldisamasquerade.Face,dress
and voice, all are false.” “She who wants to be caught never
escapes.”“Hewhodoesnotlikeyouwilldefameyouinjest.”
“Negligence,toleranceandspoilingmakechildrencapricious,
naughty, vain, greedy, lazy and insufferable.” Goya added to
thiscollectioninlateryears.Theseworkswereknownasthe
Disparates (Follies) and Proverbios (Proverbs). They created
Rising Star, Dark Shadows 101
equallychillingscenesofthegrotesqueanddisturbing,along
with the same aphorisms: “Renounce the friend who covers
youwithhiswingsandbitesyouwithhisbeak.”“Shewhois
ill-wednevermissesachancetosayso.”Thistypeofcontent
wasnotacceptableinthereligiouslyconservativeenvironment
oflateeighteenth-centurySpain.
Although The Caprices caused enough of a swirl of con-
troversy to have the Spanish Inquisition inform the artis
t
thathewouldhavetowithdrawthesaleofhisetchingsfrom
the public market, Goya does not seem to have taken any
significantcareerhitsasanartist.Infact,inSeptember1799,
the most important political force in Spain, Queen Maria
Luisa, contacted Goya and commissioned him to paint her
portrait. He had painted both the king and queen 10 years
earlier.Thepaintingverymuchpleasedher,andledhertoask
the Aragonese artist to paint her again, this time as if riding
onhorseback.(Theworkwasdoneinthestudio,ratherthan
outdoors with a live horse.) There the queen sits, an aging,
relativelyunattractivewomanbutregallydressedinconserva-
tiveblack,festoonedwithslashesofredandgold.Shealmost
appears like a man: booted foot in the stirrup, firm hand at
thereins,andwearingawide-brimmedblackhatandalook
of assurance. She liked the second portrait even more than
Goya’sfirst.“It’ssaidtobeabetterlikenessthantheportrait
inthemantilla,”shewrotetoGoyainaletter.93 (Perhapsnot
to be outdone, Carlos IV ordered a similar, complimentary
portrait of himself done, also on horseback, his chest brim-
mingwithroyalsashesandmedals.)Goyacouldnothavebeen
happier.InyetanotherlettertoZapater,hewrote,“Theroyals
aremadaboutme.”94
at His ZeNitH
Goyawasonthevergeoftheapogee,orhighestpoint,ofhis
career. The years from 1799 to 1808 were years of stunning
accomplishment and success. In October 1799, he was given
the position of First Court Painter, a position for which he
102 FRANCISCO GOyA
In 1800, Goya painted his most important portrait, Family of Carlos IV, in which he seemingly mocks the royal family. The king, decked out in gaudy medals, appears as a
piggish man, and his wife, Queen Maria Luisa, standing with the children, looks unat-
tractive and unintelligent. Goya is in the far left background, appearing as the objective chronicler of the arrogance of this failed Spanish monarch.
hadlongedformanyyears.Hissalarywassetat50,000reales
annually,plusacarriage.Overthetwoyearsthatfollowed,he
painted,possibly,hismostimportantandgreatestportrait,the
Family of Carlos IV.
Rising Star, Dark Shadows 103
YetevenasGoya’sstarwasrisinginSpain,someoneelse’s
star was also finding a new place on the European horizon.
In November 1799, the legendary French general, Napoleon
Bonaparte,havingtriumphantlyreturnedfromcampaignsof
conquestinItalyandEgypt,overthrewthepostrevolutionary
government,theDirectory.Napoleonwastednotimeinchal-
lenging the powers of Europe, several of whom went to war
againsthim,includingGreatBritainandAustria.Withalready
existingtiesbetweentheFrenchandSpain,theSpanishmon-
archyofficiallyfellintolineandagreedtoNapoleon’scontrol.
The new French dictator soon placed Godoy once again in
powerinMadrid.SeveraloftheliberalsinSpain,theilustados,
including Cabarrus, found themselves losing their influence.
Somewereevenexiled.
As for Goya, he managed to deftly steer clear of the
shiftingpoliticsthatmighthaveensnaredsomeoneelse.He
did not align himself with anyone who might cost him his
position or influence. Goya was never a particularly politi-
calcreature,sohitchinghiswagontoonepoliticalstarover
another made little sense other than how it might directly
affecthim.Withallthepoliticalchangeshappeningtothose
around him, Goya found himself busy house hunting by
January1800.Hismotivationformovingwasthatthehouse
he had occupied since 1778 was bought out from under
him by the returning Godoy for his mistress, Pepita Tudo.
Six months later, Goya purchased the property at 15 Calle
Valverde,neartheCalledelDesengano.Itwouldbethefirst
housethatGoyaeverowned.
That spring, Goya painted a portrait of the wife of the
man who was forcing him out of his home. By April 1800,
theartistwasatworkpaintingtheportraitofGodoy’swife,
the countess of Chinchon, whom Queen Maria Luisa had
forcedhimtomarryyearsearlier.Thepaintingbecameone
of Goya’s best female portraits, rivaling the portrait of the
marquisedelaSolana.Thepainting,unlikemostofhispor-
traits of this period, was not set outdoors but rather in the
(continues on page 106)
104 FRANCISCO GOyA
FraNCisCO GOYa’s LeGaCY
“a maN OF GeNiUs”
Today, with almost two centuries having passed between the death
of Francisco Goya and the birth of modern art, the artist is con-
sidered one of the greatest painters of Western culture and civi-
lization. This is actually a relatively new phenomenon, for, even
though he is admired as a painter of great genius today, many of
his works were generally either unknown or inaccessible for decades
following his death. Many of his paintings were held in “royal
apartments or private collections that could be entered only with the
proper introductions.”*
The works that would provide the basis for much of his modern fame
as an artist—his drawings, the carefully stored cartoons used to create
his tapestries, the “black paintings” he created on the walls of his rural
house, and his Caprichos and Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters
of War) etchings that hardly saw the light of day—were generally not accessible or even known much outside of Spain. Throughout much of
the nineteenth century, a trip to Spain could be an arduous journey, and
Goya remained undiscovered.
During the 1800s, even among those who did gain access to Goya’s
works, his art was not as appreciated for how it would later be seen.
Only a small group of artists, including the French painters Delacroix,
Daumier, and Manet, really grasped the significance and import of Goya’s
art. They understood him, because they were, in part, among those art-
ists who would inherit the direction in which Goya took art during his
lifetime.
The story for Goya and his artistic legacy is a different one in
today’s world. He is universally hailed as a modern painter, perhaps
even the founder and creator of modern art. His artistic style served
as a forerunner to the impressionists and even the expressionists.
He came to be seen, as he was seen in his lifetime, as “an artist of
Rising Star, Dark Shadows 105
surprising talent . . . a man of genius whose exceptional gifts are better
understood every day.”**
Perhaps one of the most important factors that provides Goya
with his legacy of being a modern master, a forerunner of later artis-
tic movements, lies in the longevity of his career. He was an artist
&nb
sp; who painted and created etchings into his eighties. His artistic life
began in one century and ended in another. Those two centuries,
the 1700s and 1800s, provide the frameworks for, basically, two art
careers, two artistic styles for Goya. If he had died as a young artist in
the eighteenth century, he might be remembered today as little more
than a second-tier mimic of other artists of his time.
By the nineteenth century, however, Goya’s art was changing to
fit or even define a new artistic era. His later works are seen today as
more expressive, emotional, depicting “a new, realistic look at man and
nature.”*** War, revolution, the oppressions of absolute monarchs, eco-
nomic extremes, genocide and other influences of the new century of
the 1800s were drawing artists away from the frivolous, away from the
pursuit of happiness, and toward a more cynical approach to art. Goya’s
art became more about tragedy, anxiety, restlessness, destruction, and
cynicism.
Perhaps these are the elements of his art works that make him so
popular and so understood as a painter today. His later paintings, those
expressive, emotional works created in the midst of the swirl of interna-
tional events, are part of an undeniable artistic legacy that keeps modern
art admirers returning to those same works today.
* Quoted in claus Virch, Francisco Goya (new York: McGraw-hill Book company, 1967), 5.
** ibid.
*** ibid., 6.
106 FRANCISCO GOyA
(continued from page 103)
shroudeddarknessofaninterior,mysteriouslyilluminating
thesubject.Thecountessisdressedinasilverymuslingown
thatshimmersagainstherseatedfigure.Sheispensive,with
a burst of auburn hair escaping her smallish bonnet, along
with ears of wheat, a symbol of fertility. The countess, it
appears, is pregnant. At the time of the painting, she and
Godoy were not speaking, she having become weary of her
husband’s extramarital affairs. Goya paints her sympatheti-
cally and tenderly, yet the countess is aloof, glancing away
fromtheviewerasifherprivacyhasbeenviolated.
As quietly and shyly as Goya portrayed the countess of
Chinchon, he would paint a portrait of Godoy the follow-