Comte Arnau
02-18-2011, 08:43 PM
Goya is an enigma. In the whole History of Art few figures are as complex for studying as the brilliant artist born in 1746 in Fuendetodos, Aragon. Enterprising and indefinable, a painter with no rival in all his life, Goya was both painter of the Court and painter of the people. Both a religious painter and a mystical painter. He was both the author of the beauty and eroticism of the 'Maja desnuda' and the creator of the explicit horror of 'The Third of May, 1808'. He was an oil painter, a fresco painter, a sketcher and an engraver. And he never stopped his metamorphosis.
During the last years of his life, an already deeply deaf Goya, painted 14 bleak agonized paintingsal secco on the walls of his Quinta del Sordo (House of the Deaf Man), a villa now destroyed. Those fourteen works, intended not to be seen by anybody, passed to art history known as the Black Paintings. Free from social pressures and far from the light of the Court, living alone in physical pain, spiritual torment and disillusionment, he would express his inner rich world, his worries and fears, a clear forerunner of generations that were to come much later.
Atropos or The Fates
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Atropos_o_Las_Parcas.jpg
The Goddesses of Destiny or Daughters of the Night are headed by Atropos, the inexorable goddess of death, who carries a few scissors to cut the thread of life.
The Two Old Men
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/2_alte_M%C3%A4nner%2C_um_1821-23.jpg
In the picture two elderly figures dressed in friar's habits stand before a black background. The man in front has a long grey beard, is tall and rests on a cane. He may represent Saturn, the god of time. Beside him is a highly caricatured figure, whose face is animal-like. This figure seems to be shouting into the ear of his companion, which might be an allusion to Goya's deafness.
The Witchy Brew
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Viejos_comiendo_sopa.jpg
Two elderly figures loom forward from a black background; although they are assumed to be men, their gender is not readily apparent. The mouth of the left figure is drawn into a grimace, possibly from lack of teeth. In stark contrast to this animated expression, the face of the other figure hardly seems alive at all. Its eyes are black hollows and the head in general bears the aspect of a skull.
Fight with Cudgels
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Ri%C3%B1a_a_garrotazos.jpg
Two men fighting one another with cudgels, as they seem to be trapped knee-deep in a quagmire of mud or sand. Probably a political allegory.
Witches' Sabbath or The Great He-Goat
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/El_Aquelarre.jpg
Satan, in the form of a hybrid goat-human figure rendered in silhouette, presides in moonlight over a coven of disfigured, ugly and terrified witches. The Devil holds absolute command over the women, who quake before him in fear. Probably a metaphorical satire on the credulity of the age, a mocking condemnation of both the popular superstition of the era and the witch trials of the Spanish Inquisition.
The Reading
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Hombres_leyendo.jpg
A group of six men huddled together are reading a printed page held in the lap of a seated central figure. They are often thought to be politicians reading, and passing comments on, a newspaper article about themselves. X-ray reveals that the image was dramatically altered before Goya settled on what is now on the canvas. At some stage a landscape in the background showed a mounted rider. The central figure in white at one point had large horns, or possibly bird wings, seemingly growing out of his head.
Judith and Holofernes
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Judith_y_Holofernes.jpg
A personal reinterpretation of the narrative of the Book of Judith, in which the protagonist saves Israel from the assault of the general Holofernes by seducing and beheading him. Judith is the only historical figure who can be identified with certainty among the Black Paintings. It is possible that Holofernes represents the Spanish King, whom Goya privately despised. Holofernes' death was often depicted in art as a symbol of the defeat of tyranny. But a number of other interpretations are possible. The work may allude to Leocadia, his young maid and companion in his final years. More probably, the picture deals generally with the power of women over men. From a psychoanalytic standpoint the painting can be seen as dealing with the topic of castration—a view which should be placed in the context of Goya's personal situation: he was an old man of more than 70 years living with his much younger lover.
During the last years of his life, an already deeply deaf Goya, painted 14 bleak agonized paintingsal secco on the walls of his Quinta del Sordo (House of the Deaf Man), a villa now destroyed. Those fourteen works, intended not to be seen by anybody, passed to art history known as the Black Paintings. Free from social pressures and far from the light of the Court, living alone in physical pain, spiritual torment and disillusionment, he would express his inner rich world, his worries and fears, a clear forerunner of generations that were to come much later.
Atropos or The Fates
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Atropos_o_Las_Parcas.jpg
The Goddesses of Destiny or Daughters of the Night are headed by Atropos, the inexorable goddess of death, who carries a few scissors to cut the thread of life.
The Two Old Men
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/2_alte_M%C3%A4nner%2C_um_1821-23.jpg
In the picture two elderly figures dressed in friar's habits stand before a black background. The man in front has a long grey beard, is tall and rests on a cane. He may represent Saturn, the god of time. Beside him is a highly caricatured figure, whose face is animal-like. This figure seems to be shouting into the ear of his companion, which might be an allusion to Goya's deafness.
The Witchy Brew
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Viejos_comiendo_sopa.jpg
Two elderly figures loom forward from a black background; although they are assumed to be men, their gender is not readily apparent. The mouth of the left figure is drawn into a grimace, possibly from lack of teeth. In stark contrast to this animated expression, the face of the other figure hardly seems alive at all. Its eyes are black hollows and the head in general bears the aspect of a skull.
Fight with Cudgels
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Ri%C3%B1a_a_garrotazos.jpg
Two men fighting one another with cudgels, as they seem to be trapped knee-deep in a quagmire of mud or sand. Probably a political allegory.
Witches' Sabbath or The Great He-Goat
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/El_Aquelarre.jpg
Satan, in the form of a hybrid goat-human figure rendered in silhouette, presides in moonlight over a coven of disfigured, ugly and terrified witches. The Devil holds absolute command over the women, who quake before him in fear. Probably a metaphorical satire on the credulity of the age, a mocking condemnation of both the popular superstition of the era and the witch trials of the Spanish Inquisition.
The Reading
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Hombres_leyendo.jpg
A group of six men huddled together are reading a printed page held in the lap of a seated central figure. They are often thought to be politicians reading, and passing comments on, a newspaper article about themselves. X-ray reveals that the image was dramatically altered before Goya settled on what is now on the canvas. At some stage a landscape in the background showed a mounted rider. The central figure in white at one point had large horns, or possibly bird wings, seemingly growing out of his head.
Judith and Holofernes
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Judith_y_Holofernes.jpg
A personal reinterpretation of the narrative of the Book of Judith, in which the protagonist saves Israel from the assault of the general Holofernes by seducing and beheading him. Judith is the only historical figure who can be identified with certainty among the Black Paintings. It is possible that Holofernes represents the Spanish King, whom Goya privately despised. Holofernes' death was often depicted in art as a symbol of the defeat of tyranny. But a number of other interpretations are possible. The work may allude to Leocadia, his young maid and companion in his final years. More probably, the picture deals generally with the power of women over men. From a psychoanalytic standpoint the painting can be seen as dealing with the topic of castration—a view which should be placed in the context of Goya's personal situation: he was an old man of more than 70 years living with his much younger lover.