Francisco Goya, The Great Hispanic Heritage Read online

  Francisco Goya

  The GreaT hispanic heriTaGe

  Isabel Allende

  Jorge Luis Borges

  Miguel de Cervantes

  César Chávez

  Roberto Clemente

  Salvador Dali

  Francisco Goya

  Oscar De La Hoya

  Dolores Huerta

  Frida Kahlo

  Jennifer Lopez

  Gabriel García Márquez

  José Martí

  Pedro Martinez

  Ellen Ochoa

  Pablo Picasso

  Tito Puente

  Juan Ponce de León

  Diego Rivera

  Carlos Santana

  Sammy Sosa

  Pancho Villa

  Francisco Goya

  Tim McNeese

  Francisco Goya

  Copyright©2008byInfobasePublishing

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  Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.

  ISBN978-0-7910-9664-2(hardcover)

  1.Goya,Francisco,1746–1828.2.Artists—Spain—Biography.I.Title.II.Series.

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  Contents

  Introduction

  6

  1 Vague Beginnings

  15

  2 Schooling for Life

  25

  3 Marriage and Career

  39

  4 Tapestries of Life

  47

  5 “The Enlightened Ones”

  60

  6 Clouds of Revolution

  72

  7 A Disturbing Turn of Events

  86

  8 Rising Star, Dark Shadows

  99

  9 The Second of May and The Third of May 113

  10 House of the Deaf Man

  126

  Chronology

  138

  Notes

  142

  Bibliography

  144

  Further Reading

  145

  Picture Credits

  146

  Index

  147

  About the Author

  151

  Introduction

  It should have been an easy campaign of conquest for

  Napoleon’s well-trained, well-armed troops. The self-

  proclaimed French emperor thought Spain might fall into

  his lap within one week of fighting. His forces, the Grande

  Armeé, easily appeared vastly superior in every way to

  their Spanish counterparts. To Napoleon, the Spanish were

  nothing, their military was “riddled with nepotism and

  corruption, top-heavy with incompetent officers, anti-

  quated in organization, badly equipped, ill-trained, and

  small.”1 WhenthewarbetweentheFrenchandtheSpanish

  began in 1808, the entire army of Spain numbered 115,000

  men, of whom 15,000 were stuck in Denmark, due to an

  earlier arrangement between Spain’s King Carlos IV and

  Napoleon.

  6

  Introduction

  7

  Disparate armies

  The largest problem Spain faced in its war with France was

  notalackofsoldiersbutashortageofmoney.In1807,Spain’s

  national income was 700 million reales. From 1807 to 1814,

  aftersevenlong,bloodyyearsofwar,ithaddroppedtohalfas

  much.Throughthoseyears,Spainwasbleddrybywar.

  Duringtheearlymonthsof1808,thecallwentoutforall

  singleandwidowedSpanishmenbetweentheagesof16and

  40totakeuparmsonbehalfoftheking.Yetthisonlyresulted

  in thousands of “enlistees” without the means necessary to

  fight. Due to a lack of funds, this ragtag army “could not

  be fed, shod, clothed, or even adequately armed.”2 Over the

  following two years, things would worsen as several Spanish

  colonies in the Americas revolted, depriving Spain of much-

  neededassets.MilitaryconditionsinSpainwereterrible.For

  everythreehorsestheSpanishcavalryneeded,onlytwowere

  available. Almost no cavalrymen had helmets. The Spanish

  were outnumbered by French cavalry by as many as five to

  one. Artillery units were forced to use cannon made out of

  woodenstavesheldtogetherbyironhoops,whichblewapart

  after only a shot or two. In the Battle of Leon, the Spanish

  actuallyoutnumberedtheFrencharmybymorethan10,000

  men (23,000 to 13,000), but 9,000 Spanish soldiers had no

  weapons,andtherewasnoSpanishcavalry.

  YetFrenchdreamsofconqueringSpaininonlyoneweek

  were soon dashed. Although the French army defeated the

  Spanishinnearlyeverybattle,theycouldnotultimatelywin

  thewartheyhadbroughttotheIberianPeninsulaofSpainand

  Portugal,althoughtheinvadersdidtakecontroloftheSpanish

  governmentforashortwhile.

  Napoleon’smilitarycampaignagainstSpaincouldnothave

  comeataworsetimefortheSpanishmonarchy.CarlosIVhad

  risentothethrone20yearsearlierandhadruledSpainpoorly,

  allowing its army to become ineffective and disorganized.

  8

  FRANCISCO GOyA

  French emperor, Napoleon I (above), or Napoleon Bonaparte,

  had acquired control of most of continental Europe by the end

  of the eighteenth century. In 1808, his armies invaded Spain,

  and in May, citizens in Madrid, rebel ing against the French

  occupation troops, were gunned down. Years later, the heroic

  uprising was captured on canvas by the great Spanish artist,

  Francisco
Goya.

  Introduction

  9

  Hewasnotverybrightandwasdominatedbyhiswife,Queen

  MarieLuisa,towhomheoftendeferredtoinmattersofstate.

  Carloswasphysicallystrong,buthewasnotastrongleader.

  rOYaL iNtriGUe

  As Napoleon prepared to take control of Spain, the queen

  and her son, Ferdinand, quarreled over which of them

  should truly ruleSpain.Ferdinandplottedagainsthisfather,

  buthisintriguewasuncoveredbyperhapstheonlyofficial

  in the Spanish Bourbon court who had any political skills

  whatsoever,ManueldeGodoy.Oncecaught,CrownPrince

  Ferdinand“wasobligedtogrovelinapologybeforeCarlos,

  whounwiselypardonedhim.”3Ferdinandrepaidhisfather’s

  gracebyplottingagainstboththeking andGodoy.

  Soon, however, French armies marched across Spanish

  soil. To carry out his coup, Napoleon had sent his cousin,

  the Grand Duke Joaquim Murat, to Spain. On March 23,

  1808, Murat descended on Madrid with 50,000 troops. He

  quicklygainedcontroloverthecityandoustedtheSpanish

  royals in the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. King Carlos

  abdicatedhisthronetoFerdinand,whoenteredMadridthe

  followingdaytothecheeringofhisnewsubjects.Theweak

  Carlos and his scheming queen were generally not liked

  in Spain. With Ferdinand on the throne, many Spaniards

  believedanewdaymightdawnfortheircountry.Theyfilled

  the streets of Madrid, celebrating, cheering, and throw-

  ing flowers. As Ferdinand’s carriage approached the Royal

  Palace,peoplelaidtheircloaksoutonthestreetinhonorof

  theirnewmonarch.

  FerdinandwasconvincedNapoleonmeantnoharmtothe

  Spanishroyalhouse.HeevenbelievedNapoleonwouldsup-

  porthimasthenewmonarch.Ferdinandcouldnothavebeen

  morewrong.Inspring1808,SpainwasswarmingwithFrench

  troops.Napoleonseizedthethrone,givingfurtherstrengthto

  his military posture in Madrid and throughout the Spanish

  10

  FRANCISCO GOyA

  countryside. He ordered the deposed Ferdinand to travel

  northintoexilewithhisparents.

  TomakecertainthatSpainwasruledproperly,Emperor

  Napoleonselectedoneofhisownbrothers,JosephBonaparte,

  tobethenewkingofSpain.Josephwasloyaltohisconqueror-

  brother. He had already proven himself to be the perfect

  bureaucrat and national administrator by serving previously

  astheemperorofNaples,anotherregionthatNapoleonhad

  conquered.YetevenbeforetheselectionofJosephwasmade

  public in Madrid, Spanish countrymen rose up against the

  French.

  IntakingthethronefromthehandsoftheSpanishroyal

  family,Napoleonhadintendedtodestroyanyroyalconnec-

  tioninSpaintotheBourbonfamily.TheBourbonswerethe

  royalfamilywithlonghistoricalrootsinFrance.TheFrench

  Revolution (1789–1799) had overthrown the Bourbon king

  LouisXVIandbeheadedhim.WhenNapoleoncametopower

  in1799,hemadehimselfrulerandemperor,establishinghis

  own family line of royalty. He then sought to remove any

  Bourboninfluencefromhiscountry.CarlosIVwasamember

  oftheBourbons.

  YetNapoleonwasnotcontenttoremovetheking,queen,

  andcrownprincefrompower.TherewereotherBourbonsin

  SpainaroundwhomtheSpanishpeoplemightpossiblyrally.

  They included Carlos’s 13-year-old son, Prince Francisco de

  Paula, and Carlos’s brother, Don Antonio, and his family.

  Napoleon soon ordered the prince to be seized and taken

  acrossthenorthernSpanishborderintosouthernFrance.This

  decisionangeredthepeopleofSpain.Rumorsbegantospread

  throughout Madrid, where the people were already enraged

  that their monarchs had been removed not only from their

  thrones but from the country itself. One rumor that fanned

  theflamesofangerandfearwasthatNapoleonwasgoingto

  execute the royal family. Such stories spread, “multiplied by

  a thousand mouths,”4 leading to a series of violent events,

  unfoldingearlyinMay1808.

  Introduction

  11

  a street UprisiNG

  About8 a.m. onMay2,SpanishsubjectsgatheredatthePuerta

  del Sol, Madrid’s main plaza, near the Royal Palace. They

  watchedasDonAntonioandhisfamilywasledoutofthepal-

  acetowaitingcoaches.Accompanyingthemwas13-year-old

  PrinceFrancisco.ThesightoftheFrenchtakingthelastofthe

  royalSpanishfamilyintocaptivityangeredthecrowd.People

  began to shout and jostle one another. Others rushed to the

  plaza,andsoonthescenewascrowdedwithangry madrileños,

  citizens of Madrid. They chanted in unison, “Long live the

  kingandourroyals!DeathtoNapoleon!Frenchiesout,out,

  out!”5Becauseoftheearlyhour,themajorityofthosegathered

  inthestreetsweresimple,working-classcitizensontheirway

  towork.

  The people in the crowd soon produced weapons and

  anythingtheycouldgettheirhandson—sticks,knives,clubs,

  and even a handful of old guns. Fighting broke out. From

  the upper-story windows and balconies of Spanish houses,

  angry madrileños showered down everything from furniture

  to boiling oil on the French. A flowerpot struck the general

  of the Imperial Guard, killing him. The unplanned, random

  uprising was an eruption of frustration and fear that would

  shortly become an all-out riot against the French troops in

  Madrid.TheFrenchtookswiftretributionwheretheycould,

  as desperate Spaniards were mowed down by French bullets

  onthePlazadeOriente.Whereanyshotshadbeenfiredfrom

  ahouse,soldiersstormedinandkilledalltheresidents.The

  Frencharmyrampagedthroughthecityandthesurrounding

  countryside.Riflemenbrokedownthedoorsofalocalmonas-

  teryanddecapitatedthemonks.

  MostoftheactiontookplaceinthePuertadelSol,oneof

  the busiest places in Madrid. There, rioters fought a detach-

  ment of the Imperial Guard, including 24 Mamelukes. The

  Mamelukes were Egyptian mercenaries whom the people

  of Madrid loathed and feared for their excessive and brutal

  tactics. The Mamelukes were attacked by rioters. Organizing

  12

  FRANCISCO GOyA

  theirranks,theEgyptianschargedacrossthesquareandmet

  the frenzied attacks of madrileños, who were wielding their

  crude weapons. Some of the Mamelukes were dragged off

  their horses and killed by the Spanish. Puerta del Sol was in

  chaos,andcasualtiesonbothsideswereextensive.Although

  thenumberisprobablyexaggerated,whenGrandDuk
eMurat

  madeouthisreportoftheuprisingtoNapoleon,heclaimed

  that“severalthousand”protestorshadbeenkilled.6

  sWiFt reVeNGe

  The fighting and rioting continued for two hours that

  morning. Perhaps as many as 200 Spaniards were killed or

  woundedintherioting.ThePuertadelSolwascoveredwith

  bodies.Althoughtheriotingwasnotrenewedthefollowing

  day,theFrenchtookdecisivestepsinresponsetothespon-

  taneousuprising.FrenchtroopsbeganroundingupSpanish

  subjects whom they thought might have been involved in

  the riots. Hundreds were taken prisoner. On May 3, mass

  executions took place across the city at selected sites: the

  hospitalcourtyardnexttotheChurchofBuenSuceso;along

  the Paseo del Prado, near the site where the famous Prado

  Museumstandstoday;andattheMountainofPrincipePio,

  asmallriseapproximately200yards(183meters)fromthe

  LiriaPalace.Theaccusedreceivednotrials,andthekillings

  werebrutal.FiringsquadsofFrenchsoldierscold-bloodedly

  gunneddowntheSpanish.

  Not far from the Mountain of Principe Pio lived the

  most famous Spanish artist of the early nineteenth century,

  FranciscoGoya.HowmuchhesawoftheriotingonMay2is

  unknown.Didhewitnessthesebloodyevents?Didhepartici-

  pate?WherewashewhenhisfellowSpaniardswererounded

  upandshotdownthestreetfromhishome?Whatdidhesee?

  Whatdidhehear?Whatdidhefeel?

  The answers to these questions remain uncertain. Yet

  these two days, May 2 and 3, 1808, would change not only

  Spain’s future, but they would forever alter the career of

  Introduction

  13

  Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) was already an esteemed

  court painter to the Spanish royalty and chronicler of Spanish life when the

  events of May 2 and 3, 1808, occurred near his home in Madrid. This self-

  portrait shows the artist at about 70 years of age.

  Francisco Goya. Six years later, Napoleon would finally be

  defeated.ArmiesfromGreatBritain,Prussia,andRussiagath-