@June 8, 2014

The Webster dictionary defines art as, “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.”  Art is based on our interpretation of the world surrounding us. People go through different traumas that shape how they interpret things. By looking at the life of Francisco Goya, it is evident that physical illness and the surrounding environment can greatly affect the mental mind and the artist’s style and body of work.

On the 30th of March in 1746, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born at Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain. Considered the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Moderns, Goya inspired many later artists such as Manet, Picasso, and Francis Bacon. Working under the apprenticeship of the Zaragoza painter José Lúzan y Martinez in the 1760s, Goya was introduced to Josefa Bayeu, the sister of his partner Francisco Bayeu. They married 15 years after they had met and had seven kids together. However, one of their many children, Xavier, lived through infancy. Xavier was born on December 2, 1784, right before Goya’s career began to shift for the better. Shortly after the arrival of his son, Goya is appointed Painter to the King of Spain in 1786, becoming a high-ranking artist with a large income. Though multiple works of Goya were rejected, he became Deputy Director of Painting for the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Spain. Everything seemed to be going right into place, until 1792 when he grew gravely ill. This was a turning point for Goya’s life and artwork.

In 1778, long before Goya became physically ill, he created a series of cartoons to decorate the dining room in the Palace of El Pardo, Madrid. They were used as models for cloth workers to convert into tapestries. One picture created in this series was titled “La Cometa” or “The Kite,” [1] painted with oil on canvas. It depicts the happy civilians of Madrid in bright, cheerful colors flying a kite together. Aerial perspective, modeling, foreshortening, and other artistic techniques are all evident in this cheery painting. A dog sits quietly on the right corner, next to the man on the left corner contently smoking. The man tallest standing on the tree branch looks up to the kite with hope and wonder, along with the other men and women below. People in the far background are seen dancing with one another, enjoying themselves on a lovely afternoon.

“Los Caprichos” are a set of 80 aquatint pieces published in 1799 during Goya’s recovery. He described the series as “the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance or self-interest have made usual.” In each of his pieces, there is a disturbing sarcastic mood reflecting human society. The most popular of the works, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters,” [2] speaks of the Inquisitions and the injustice of the supposed enlightenments. The figure sleeps among drawing tools as animals surround him. Some stare at the sleeping man, but others at us, forcing us to be engaged.  The owls symbolize folly and knowledge, while the bats symbolize ignorance. The message Goya is trying to get across is that civilization is too reasonable and not emotional. The newfound “enlightened” logic has created humans to become monsters. The piece is Romanticism at its highest, stressing human emotion over reason. It is greatly different from his earlier works, such as “The Kite,” where the message was positive and lighthearted. After Goya’s sickness in 1792, his work became increasingly more serious and grave.

While Francisco Goya was struggling to cope with his sudden sickness, other events and changes occurred in his life far beyond his control. Guerra de la Independencia Española, also known as the Peninsular War, ranged between 1807 and 1814 between the First French Empire and Spanish Empire. The French and Spanish were supposed allies, until France turned on Spain and destroyed the Spanish administration. Napoleon invaded and took control of the monarchy. Later, the Spanish monarchy was restored, yet they still destroyed the country with their inquisitions and death tolls. Since he was first court painter to the Spanish crown, he created portraits for both the Spanish and the invading French rulers. He also witnessed first hand the horrors of war.

Goya created a series of 82 prints titled “Los Desastres de la Guerra” or “The Disasters of War.” These pieces were not published, nor were they commissioned. Historians viewed it as a protest against the affects of the Peninsular War. Goya writes that The Disasters of War are about: “Fatal consequences of Spain’s bloody war with Bonaparte, and other emphatic caprices.” One of the most famous of these works is “The Third of May 1808” [3] created with oil on canvas. It was completed on 1814 and made to honor the Spanish resistance against Napoleon’s rule. His technique is not necessarily attempting to capture the real world, as the figures are mostly flat and the perspective is incorrect, but rather to send his message across and make an emotional impact. The victim who raises his hands in front of the pointed guns has marks on his hands as though made from nails and his position is in that of crucifixion, both allusions to Christ. It shows the injustice of the Napoleon army and the martyrdom of the rebellion of the Spanish people. Corpses are scattered on the floor around the figures, making it clear that there is no heroism, only murder. The darkness in Goya’s paintings increased as his world shattered and his health decreased. After creating The Disasters of War, Goya went into recluse and began work on The Black Paintings.

The Black Paintings are a group of 14 works created in the last years of his life. They were painted on the walls of his home, “Quinta del Sordo”, or “House of the Deaf Man.” The man who previously lived in the house gave it its title, not Goya who was, in fact, deaf at the time he lived there. On the sitting and dining rooms, his work was created directly on the walls using oil. They were private, uncommissioned work, never meant for the public eye. One of the most popular of the Black Paintings is “Saturn Devouring one of his Sons,” [4] created sometime between the years of 1819 and 1823. It was, ironically, painted onto the dining area of the Quinta del Sordo. This piece shows the old Greek legend of Saturn eating his child. In this legend, Saturn, known as the God of Time, learns that one of his sons will overcome him one day. In order to prevent this from happening, he devours all of his children right after they are born. The colours in Goya’s painting of this terrible legend are very dark just as the mood is. It uses the techniques of chiaroscuro and modeling, creating a fantastically dark and eerie image. Saturn’s expression looks crazed, as his demented white eyes seemingly bulge out of their sockets. It emphasizes the theme of lust for power, which may even allude to the bloodthirsty Spanish and French monarchy that created turmoil in his country for authority. Regardless, it is a very powerfully dark image, just as the other Black Paintings of the Quinta del Sordo. But what created this immense transition of style?

Starting when he was 47 years old, Goya started suffering through a serious physical illness. This mysterious illness Goya developed included symptoms such as weakness, dizziness, delirium, abdominal pain, sickness, deafness, and partial blindness. However, Goya never regained his hearing from this trauma, and lived the rest of his life deaf. Don Sebastian Martínez cared for Goya during his extreme sickness, writing that: “The noises in his head and the deafness have not improved, but his vision is much better and he is no longer suffering from the disorders which made him lose his balance. He can now go up and down stairs and in a word is doing things he was not able to do before.” While Goya had partially recovered from this disastrous sickness, his art completely changed in direction, from cheerfully gay to absolutely grotesque. While some may say that his illness had nothing to do with this change of art, it is evident that the transition of his happy artwork before 1972 and his disturbing works after 1972 are obvious. For example, his line of work before his declination of health was creating tapestry cartoons. Afterword, it became Los Caprichos, The Disasters of War, and The Black Paintings.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a man of great success and honor. He worked for the royalty of the king, was a member of the famous the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Spain, and had a stable family of his own. However, when sickness took its toll, he became a completely different type of artist. From kites to cannibalism, Goya delved into a state of recluse and insanity. On April 2nd, 1828, Francisco Goya’s health once again rapidly deteriorated as he became partly paralyzed. The end of Francisco Goya’s story lies two weeks later, on April 16th, 1828 when he died at the age of 82.

[1] “La Cometa”

https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXch6I1w0cegzJOXf0grm99ymitE_zQ4AD9RkK7Wr-DHEXEjs2Ih6XMnjeKf77rT-yZcSgpBLf986g4UuKgQNDuzaoTHz4DFVgFVOCBx1udGSKMqb940Uuu5ZMHOz2Y0xE_QJBq_MZWK1o0_HTe_CggD1L7UaSSOCecHzzEdF2cF9zFlv7Ekjx8?key=nUsCkZjnWylnIuA9ayLU5A

[2] “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters”

https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfJDcnTf8aAeQvGle6b7wJK9E4EMs_8kt9Ur3KmA0EoDGZhPQ_lk8HDtwWZcPj1hjkbAVo4Xb7I92qk_ij7MvNoEIsmoi9IKi__7pL2qB1aXbIQ7MVJ8vJrXDXrxID1F-eJ0wF2wPBTVJDVoA_tIAKJb0UN09tQ20N_dOpjia1Sxja0HkPS6vM?key=nUsCkZjnWylnIuA9ayLU5A

[3] “The Third of May 1808”

https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeAoIE1aRo0q7g4oOYm8hoGmCa5AD6YsHyu8QZWQWluRAdb-cncUPsQpDfmZuoX_u7U-pr99XyQ7OPYS0ne0Qa8gLCO80z-Q1tJBiyu7ISGaW9RTm3P5mFPrNJMZgfycFvezfkAfPqaVUL0MPaivuT-Th1zG0mcv7VqvMwB-kAj-d49U_x2tQ?key=nUsCkZjnWylnIuA9ayLU5A

[4] “Saturn Devouring one of his Sons”

https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdLVUMLBp4kudDaTBj4CIVyQQXScNIHcW6UqhBsmjX6-iNlBjvkHIaRZRXzpAP3k6DzFQaT5WR3wLW3iD4nTmxqbEa-tSBak8AKAuDqBwNhK81ldEI8PYm-WT2z-85zqJR7irzTjaYjuPEaypj7dtL4onpd24WWUOGIW1Td33K_SdtPjv1Bhg0?key=nUsCkZjnWylnIuA9ayLU5A

Works Cited

"Art." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 8 June 2014. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art.