Francisco Goya, The Great Hispanic Heritage Read online

  Spaniards had always had an affection for the communal

  enjoyment of streets and squares, perhaps because of the

  bustling contrast of the austerity of their homes. Street fairs,

  religiousprocessions,performancesbystrollingjugglers,even

  thebullfights,whichoftentookplaceinopenplazasinthose

  days, formed one of the distinguishing characteristics of

  Spanishlife.Now,withthecity’sstreetscleanerandsafer,this

  lifebecamemorevitalthaneverinMadrid.Thetwilightstroll

  alongoneofthegreatavenues—atimeforflirtation,argument

  ...relaxationandrefreshment—becameacustomthatpersists

  today.ThereisnoquestionthatGoyahimselftookaparticular

  delightinthepastime.27

  a NeW OppOrtUNitY

  By 1766, Goya had his second opportunity to compete for

  a scholarship for the Royal Academy of San Fernando. That

  year’scompetitionwastopaintascenefromSpanishhistory

  depictinganearlierkingofSpain,AlfonsotheWise.Therules

  werespecific:thecanvashadtomeasuresixfeet(1.8m)wide

  andfour-and-a-halffeet(1.4m)inheight.Thoseparticipating

  had approximately six months to complete their composi-

  tions, which were due that July. Then the participants were

  expected to complete a second work on July 22 at the Royal

  Academywithinafewhours.Thesubjectwastobekeptsecret

  until that day. Goya participated, but once again he did not

  receiveasinglevotefromtheAcademy’snine-memberpanel.

  The winner was a young artist named Ramon Bayeu, whose

  brother,Francisco,wasamemberofthejury.Franciscohad

  beenastudentofLuzán’sadozenyearsbeforeGoya.

  Although Goya had failed again, the experience and its

  results taught him a valuable lesson. Spanish art, at least in

  Schooling for Life

  33

  Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) was among the great masters of

  the rococo art movement of the eighteenth century. He was in high demand

  throughout Europe, completing major works for both royalty and the church.

  This fresco, or a painting done on wet plaster, adorns a palace in Venice,

  Italy, Tiepolo’s birthplace.

  Madrid,wasmovingquicklyintothecampofneoclassicism.

  Goya knew he would have to learn to paint in that style or

  fail as an artist. Logically, who better to learn from than the

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  FRANCISCO GOyA

  artist who had just won the 1766 Academy competition,

  RamonBayeu?Goya’soldteacher,Luzán,mayhavemadethe

  arrangements, and soon Goya was accepted as a student of

  Bayeu’s.Forthefollowingthreeyears,Goya,nowinhisearly

  twenties,studiedatthefeetofBayeu.Arthistorianstodaycon-

  siderBayeutobeasecond-rateartist,andmanyconsiderhis

  brother, Francisco, to be the better painter. The apprentice-

  ship,however,hadsecondaryresultsforGoyaaswell.While

  studying under Bayeu, he met and fell in love with Bayeu’s

  youngersister,Josefa.Theywouldonedaymarry.

  iNspiratiON iN itaLY

  Despite the value of his apprenticeship, Goya emerged from

  the experience a restless man. He felt he had not yet found

  his true inspiration, and he struggled for new direction. His

  restlessness shows itself in, again, a long list of stories about

  Goya’s private life. Tales relate how Goya constantly walked

  the streets of the capital “wrapped to the eyeballs in a black

  cloak,facehiddenbeneathaslouchhat.”28 Storiestellofhim

  standingbeneaththebalconiesofyoungwomen,playingthe

  guitar, a musically inclined Romeo. He also carried a sword

  likealatter-dayMontague.Hewasstillpronetoviolence,once

  attackingamanformockingahunchback,andonoccasion,

  pullinghisswordtoengageanenemyfollowinganinsult.He

  hung out with jugglers, street people, and gypsies. He was a

  manoftheworld,findinglifeinthestreetsofMadrid.Soon,

  however,hewasofftoItalytofindnewinspiration.

  LittleisknownabouthisdaysintheItaliancity-statesof

  thelateeighteenthcentury.Historiansarenotevencertainhow

  GoyamanagedtopayforhistriptoItaly.LegendtellsofGoya

  workingasabullfighter.Itwassomethingheevenclaimedas

  anoldman,writinginlettersofhisdaysinthebullringwhere

  “hefoughtbullsinhistime,andthatwithhisswordinhand

  hefearednoone.”29 Hesignedsuchletters “Franciscodelos

  Toros(FranciscooftheBulls).”Regardlessofthetruthofthese

  reports,hereachedItalybytravelingthroughsouthernFrance,

  Schooling for Life

  35

  wherehetookthetimetocopyapaintingbySimonVouetand

  sketchworksoftheRenaissancepainterNicolasPoussin.

  The stories of his exploits once he arrived in Italy were

  bound to be told. One tells of him performing as a street

  acrobat to support himself. In another, he received an offer

  from a Russian ambassador to go to the Russian capital at

  St.Petersburgandbecomethecourtpainterfortheempress,

  CatherinetheGreat.Oneoftheoddestlegends,butonethat

  resounded with Goyaesque excess, was about a nun with

  whomtheyoungartistfellmadlyinlove.Hethenraidedthe

  conventwheresheresided,readytowhiskherofftoalover’s

  hideaway. The scandalous kidnap led to Goya’s arrest and

  condemnationtohang.OnlytheinterventionsoftheSpanish

  ambassador saved Goya’s neck. Again, this story is unlikely.

  DidhereallyscrambletothetopofthehighestofSt.Peter’s

  domestoscrawlhisinitialsingraffiti?Didhereallymeetthe

  greatFrenchpainterJacquesLouisDavidwhowouldbecome

  famousasNapoleon’scourtpainter?Therewasneverashort-

  ageofsuchstories,untrueastheyallprobablywere.

  Some stories are highly likely, however. While in Rome,

  GoyaprobablymetwithMengs,whowasinItalyatthetime

  duetohisbadhealth.GoyaalsospentsometimewithTiepolo’s

  son,Domenico,whoprobablygaveGoyalettersofintroduc-

  tiontoacquaintancesandfriends.Thesepeopleopenedtheir

  piazzastoshowtheyoungSpanishartisttheirpaintings,etch-

  ings,andbusts.HemayalsohavepaidacallondiplomatDon

  José Nicolás de Azara, who was also from Aragon and who

  worked in the Vatican. Through de Azara, Goya may have

  beenallowedtoviewadditionalprivateartworks.

  Goya’smonthsinItalyrepresentedmoreopportunityand

  exposureforhimthantheaverageSpanishyouthofhislower-

  rankbackgroundcouldeverhaveinalifetime.Theworksof

  the masters were everywhere, and he seized the advantage

  to learn from them. In Rome, he could not have missed the

  worksof
thegreatRenaissancepainterssuchasMichelangelo

  andRaphael.HisspeciallyarrangedvisittotheVaticanwould

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  FRANCISCO GOyA

  Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779) was a notable German painter

  who was a favorite of Spain’s King Carlos I I. His work helped establish

  the neoclassicism movement of art, a distinct departure from Tiepolo’s

  rococo style. This painting of King Carlos I I is one of Mengs’s most

  noteworthy works.

  Schooling for Life

  37

  haveassuredhimofthat.InthecityofParma,heviewedthe

  brightlypaintedfrescoesofsixteenth-centurypaintingmaster

  Correggioandseemstohavefoundsignificantinspirationfor

  his own later works, which often mirror the early master’s

  style.Hesawdarkerworks,suchastheprisonpaintingsofa

  contemporaryartist,Piranesi,againfindingatouchstonefor

  laterGoyacompositions.Heviewedpaintingsbylesser-known

  artists, including Alessandro Magnasco and Pietro Longhi.

  HealsofoundinterestinsomenewworksbyGiuseppeMaria

  Crespi and Giacomo Ceruti that featured subjects including

  “common people and their life in the streets.”30 Such less

  formal,commonplacesubjectsareamongthoseGoyawould

  returntorepeatedlyduringhislongartisticcareer.

  iN searCH OF tHe artist

  Perhaps more important than anything else, Goya’s artistic

  pilgrimage through Italy convinced him of his own artistic

  commitments. He would never be able to whole-heartedly

  attachhimselftoneoclassicism.Itwastoorigidandtoodis-

  ciplined.Itssubjectmatterwasalsotoolimitedinscope.He

  did not turn instead unquestioningly to either rococo or its

  parent, baroque, but in these forms he found something he

  could not in neoclassicism. They gave him a sense of being

  thatneoclassicismcouldnot.Throughthesevibrant,organic

  styles,Goyarespondedemotionally.Throughthemhecould

  feelsomething.

  It was during his time in Italy that Goya heard of yet

  anotherartisticcompetition.ItwassponsoredbytheAcademy

  of Fine Arts in the northern Italian city-state of Parma. The

  entrantshadtoillustrateasceneofHannibalsightingItalyas

  hecrossedtheAlps.ThepiecewastoshowtheCarthaginian

  ruler’s march from Spain through modern-day southern

  France to Italy in the third century b.c. The subject for the

  competition was perfect for Goya. Had he not traveled over

  that same region on his way to Italy? One problem facing

  Goya, however, was that foreign competitors had to submit

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  FRANCISCO GOyA

  their works through academy representatives in the town

  where they were living. Goya was uncertain his painting

  wouldbegiventhesameconsiderationasanentrybyalocal

  contributor,causinghimtomisleadthejudges.Hesignedhis

  workwith“Goja,”theItalianversionofhisname,andstated

  hewasfromRomeandapupilofFranciscoBayeu,thecourt

  paintertotheSpanishmonarch.

  Goya was heartened when he received news that his

  paintingreceivedsixvotesbythepanelofjudges.Thewin-

  ner, however, garnered seven votes, earning the prize of a

  five-ounce gold medal. The disappointed Goya could com-

  fort himself with the words of the judges, who praised his

  work,stating“thatifhehadbeenmoretruthfultonaturein

  his coloring and less eccentric in composing the subject he

  wouldhavewon.”31

  Whether his failure to win the competition was the rea-

  son or not, Goya soon chose to leave Italy and return home

  to Spain. By now, he was 25 years old, and his artistic skills

  weregreatlyimproved,althoughhewasstillnotsatisfied.He

  had rejected the confining perimeters of neoclassicism, yet

  hehadnotyetfullyembracedtheothertwoobviousstylistic

  choices,baroqueandrococo.Norhadheyetlandedonastyle

  ofhisowneither.Hefeltreadytotakearttoanotherlevel,but

  where,andhow?Perhapshelackedtheconfidencetostrike

  outartisticallyinhisowndirection,withhisownstyle.Despite

  the bravado found in stories about Goya as a young man,

  includingswordplayandlovesicknunabductions,Goyamay

  not have been as confident of himself as some art historians

  claim. The biographer José Gudiol claims that the artist was

  “atimidman,governedbyemotionandsomewhatlackingin

  self-confidence.”32 Perhaps, or perhaps not, but it is certain

  thatwhenGoyamadehiswaybacktoSpain,hedidnotreturn

  confidently to Madrid to make his artistic mark. Instead, he

  returnedtothesimplerenvironsofSaragossa Itwastobehere

  thatGoyawouldsetouttocreatehisartisticlegacy.

  3

  Marriage

  and Career

  In 1771, Goya took up residence on the Street of Noah’s

  ArkinSaragossa.Italywasbehindhim,butthelessonshehad

  learnedwerenot.Goyahadalsoleftneoclassicismasanartistic

  style.Whatlayahead?Wherewouldhisstill-evolvingarttake

  him?YoungGoyadidhaveaplanofsorts.Hehadchosento

  bypassMadrid,wherethedirectcompetitionofartistswould

  befierce,perhapsevenintimidating.HewoulduseSaragossa

  to build up his reputation. If he succeeded in these familiar

  surroundings,Madridwould,intime,takenoticeofhim.

  a FaVOraBLe COmmissiON

  WithinweeksofhisarrivalinSaragossa,Goyareceivedacom-

  missiontopaintaseriesofworksfortheSobradielPalace,the

  homeoftheGabardacounts.Thepaintingsweredoneforthe

  palace’s chapel and included four large paintings of biblical

  (continues on page 42)

  39

  40

  FRANCISCO GOyA

  BeiNG HispaNiC

  tHe sOUL OF spaiN

  There have, of course, been other great artistic geniuses in the his-

  tory of Spain. Some came before Goya, such as El Greco and Diego

  Velázquez, and others such as Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso have

  followed him. Each Spanish painter has lent his talent in creating a

  part of the canvas that is the legacy of Spanish art. With El Greco, for

  whom Spain was an adopted home, his legacy was to depict the “spiri-

  tual aspiration of the Spanish soul”* on canvas. He created works that

  the Catholic Church in Spain could accept as visions of a painter in

  love with his God, his church, and of the redemptive spirit of Spanish

  Christianity. His paintings revel in the light of theological idealism of

  Spain’s sixteenth century.

  Following El Greco, Spain’s next great master was Velázquez, the

  seventeenth-century painter of Spanish kings, royal families, and of the

  splendor of the age of Spain’s powerful rise on the world stage as the

  sponsor
of Christopher Columbus. Spain was the great European power

  in the New World and the controller of its great wealth, embodied in the

  gold and silver delivered from Central and South American mines to the

  Spanish treasury in Madrid. Velázquez painted “Spain’s worldly pride

  and power.”**

  Today, despite the significant contributions of El Greco and

  Velázquez, so much of the heritage of Spanish art rests on the shoulders

  of Francisco Goya. Perhaps most essential to this heritage is the fact

  that Goya always considered Spain and his Hispanic heritage as highly

  significant and crucial to his personal identity.

  Spain was a constant inspiration to Goya. He is seen as the painter

  of the true Spain, of the worlds that Spain was beyond royal portraits and those of aristocracy. Goya presented his view of the real Spain, the

  common Spain. He understood it as part of the noble past and present

  of the land of his birth and heritage. It can be seen in the subject mat-

  ter of so much of his art: This was Goya’s Spain, together with blind

  beggars, cripples, cutthroats, lunatics, swaggering majos, flirtatious

  Marriage and Career

  41

  majas, dwarfs, bullfights, carnivals, massacres, picnics beside the

  Manzanares, Inquisitiors seeking the Devil. Much of it Goya saw through

  a glass darkly.***

  Goya had opportunities to leave the land of his birth behind on

  more than one occasion. As a young man, he left Spain to study art

  in Italy, but once he learned those “lessons” from the great artists of

  the Renaissance, he did not remain on the Italian peninsula. Instead,

  he returned to Spain, where he would remain for nearly all of his life.

  There were visits to France, but Spain was essentially a part of him.

  It flowed through his veins and gave him his first identity. He could

  no more abandon the land of his birth than he could renounce his

  Hispanic roots.

  As a result, so much of the artistic work created by Francisco Goya

  would manage to capture the very soul of Spain. He is there, at every

  twist and turn of Spanish culture during his lifetime, capturing so much

  of the spirit of a place and time in his art. He painted an endless num-

  ber of important Spanish people: kings, queens, counts, ambassadors,

  royal advisors, and wealthy patrons. Goya is also there to paint great