Black Paintings
Encyclopedia
The Black Paintings is the name given to a group of paintings by Francisco Goya
from the later years of his life, likely between 1819–1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his fear of insanity and by then, his bleak outlook on humanity. In 1819, at the age of 72, Goya moved into a two-story house outside Madrid
called Quinta del Sordo ("Deaf Man's Villa"). Although the house had been named after the previous owner, who was deaf, Goya was himself nearly totally deaf at the time as a result of an illness he suffered when he was 46.
After the Napoleonic Wars
and the internal turmoil of the changing Spanish government, Goya developed an embittered attitude towards man. He had a first hand and acute awareness of panic, terror, fear and hysteria. He had survived two near-fatal illnesses, and grew increasingly anxious and impatient in fear of relapse. The combination of these factors is thought to have led to his production of 14 works known collectively as the Black Paintings.
Using oil paints and working directly on the walls of his dining and sitting rooms, Goya created intense, haunting works with dark themes. The paintings were not commissioned and were not meant to leave his home; it is likely that the artist never intended the works for public exhibition: "...these paintings are as close to being hermetically private as any that have ever been produced in the history of Western art." Goya did not title the paintings, or if he did, he never revealed those titles; most of their names have been provided by art historians.
. The image portrays the Roman god Saturn
eating one of his children. Fearing a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, Saturn ate each of his children upon their birth. Goya depicts this act of cannibalism
with startling savagery. The background is black, while the limbs and head of Saturn seem to pop out of the shadows. Saturn's eyes are huge and bulging as if he is mad. His fingers dig into the back of his child, whose head and right arm are already consumed. Saturn is about to take another bite of the body's left arm. The only use of color besides flesh-tones is the splash of red blood covering the mutilated outline of the upper part of the partially-eaten, motionless body, which is chillingly depicted in deathly white.
Another of Goya's works from the series is known as Witches' Sabbath
or The Great He-Goat (). Ominous and gloomy, this earth-toned illustration depicts the ancient belief that the Sabbath
was a meeting of witches supervised by the devil
, who took the form of a goat. The goat is painted entirely in black and appears as a silhouette in front of a coven of witches and warlocks. They have sunken eyes and horrifying features, and appear huddled together, leaning towards the devil. Only one girl seems resistant to the crowd. She sits at the far right, dressed in black. Though she does not appear involved in the ritual, she does seem to be captivated by the group's relationship to the devil.
Not all of the Black Paintings share the limited colors of the previous two examples. Fight With Cudgels
shows Goya's dramatic use of different shades of blue and red as two men beat each other. While in the original version they were fighting on a meadow, the painting was damaged during the transfer, and the version at Prado has been painted over, stressing the eeriness of the fighters, unable to escape each other's blows due to their knee-deep entrapment in a quagmire. It has been taken as a premonition of the fight of the two Spains, that would dominate the following decades. Fantastic Vision also uses bright red in the garb of one of the two giant figures hovering over a group of horsemen, and also in the feather of the hat of a rifleman taking aim at these figures.
In 1823, the absolutist monarchy was re-established in Spain with Ferdinand VII, and Goya went into hiding. A year later, he fled to Bordeaux and stayed there in self-imposed exile for the remainder of his life.
The Black Paintings were transferred onto canvas in 1874 under the supervision of Salvador Martínez Cubells, a curator at the Museo del Prado
. The owner, Baron Emile d'Erlanger, donated the canvases to the Spanish state in 1881, and they are now on display at the Museo del Prado.
to the museum basement because it was on the apparently nonexisting second floor of the Quinta.
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
from the later years of his life, likely between 1819–1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his fear of insanity and by then, his bleak outlook on humanity. In 1819, at the age of 72, Goya moved into a two-story house outside Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
called Quinta del Sordo ("Deaf Man's Villa"). Although the house had been named after the previous owner, who was deaf, Goya was himself nearly totally deaf at the time as a result of an illness he suffered when he was 46.
After the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the internal turmoil of the changing Spanish government, Goya developed an embittered attitude towards man. He had a first hand and acute awareness of panic, terror, fear and hysteria. He had survived two near-fatal illnesses, and grew increasingly anxious and impatient in fear of relapse. The combination of these factors is thought to have led to his production of 14 works known collectively as the Black Paintings.
Using oil paints and working directly on the walls of his dining and sitting rooms, Goya created intense, haunting works with dark themes. The paintings were not commissioned and were not meant to leave his home; it is likely that the artist never intended the works for public exhibition: "...these paintings are as close to being hermetically private as any that have ever been produced in the history of Western art." Goya did not title the paintings, or if he did, he never revealed those titles; most of their names have been provided by art historians.
The collection
Perhaps the best known of the Black Paintings is Saturn Devouring His SonSaturn Devouring His Son
Saturn Devouring His Son is the name given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It depicts the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus , who, fearing that he would be overthrown by his children, ate each one upon their birth...
. The image portrays the Roman god Saturn
Saturn (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Saturn was a major god presiding over agriculture and the harvest time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many Roman authors. In medieval times he was known as the Roman god of agriculture, justice and strength. He held a sickle in...
eating one of his children. Fearing a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, Saturn ate each of his children upon their birth. Goya depicts this act of cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
with startling savagery. The background is black, while the limbs and head of Saturn seem to pop out of the shadows. Saturn's eyes are huge and bulging as if he is mad. His fingers dig into the back of his child, whose head and right arm are already consumed. Saturn is about to take another bite of the body's left arm. The only use of color besides flesh-tones is the splash of red blood covering the mutilated outline of the upper part of the partially-eaten, motionless body, which is chillingly depicted in deathly white.
Another of Goya's works from the series is known as Witches' Sabbath
Witches' Sabbath (Goya)
Witches' Sabbath or The Great He-Goat are names given to a fresco likely completed between 1820–1823 by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. The work shows Satan in the form of a hybrid goat-human figure rendered in silhouette, presiding in moonlight over a coven of disfigured, ugly and terrified...
or The Great He-Goat (). Ominous and gloomy, this earth-toned illustration depicts the ancient belief that the Sabbath
Sabbath (witchcraft)
The Witches' Sabbath or Sabbat is a supposed meeting of those who practice witchcraft, and other rites.European records indicate cases of persons being accused or tried for taking part in Sabbat gatherings, from the Middle Ages to the 17th century or later.- Etymology :The English word “sabbat”...
was a meeting of witches supervised by the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, who took the form of a goat. The goat is painted entirely in black and appears as a silhouette in front of a coven of witches and warlocks. They have sunken eyes and horrifying features, and appear huddled together, leaning towards the devil. Only one girl seems resistant to the crowd. She sits at the far right, dressed in black. Though she does not appear involved in the ritual, she does seem to be captivated by the group's relationship to the devil.
Not all of the Black Paintings share the limited colors of the previous two examples. Fight With Cudgels
Fight with Cudgels
Fight with Cudgels , called The Strangers or Cowherds in the inventories, is the name given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid...
shows Goya's dramatic use of different shades of blue and red as two men beat each other. While in the original version they were fighting on a meadow, the painting was damaged during the transfer, and the version at Prado has been painted over, stressing the eeriness of the fighters, unable to escape each other's blows due to their knee-deep entrapment in a quagmire. It has been taken as a premonition of the fight of the two Spains, that would dominate the following decades. Fantastic Vision also uses bright red in the garb of one of the two giant figures hovering over a group of horsemen, and also in the feather of the hat of a rifleman taking aim at these figures.
In 1823, the absolutist monarchy was re-established in Spain with Ferdinand VII, and Goya went into hiding. A year later, he fled to Bordeaux and stayed there in self-imposed exile for the remainder of his life.
The Black Paintings were transferred onto canvas in 1874 under the supervision of Salvador Martínez Cubells, a curator at the Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of...
. The owner, Baron Emile d'Erlanger, donated the canvases to the Spanish state in 1881, and they are now on display at the Museo del Prado.
Authenticity issues
While it is commonly believed that the Black Paintings are Goya's works, art professor Juan José Junquera has questioned their authenticity. After completing a research on the Black Paintings in order to write his homonymous book, he concluded that These are fake paintings. One of Janquera's main arguments is that the Quinta del Sordo had only one story during the time Goya lived in the house. According to the professor, Goya's purchase contract for the Quinta, the deed of transfer to his only grandchild, Mariano, and a document of the property at the time of Mariano's marriage in 1830, describe a house with only one floor. The second story was added after Goya's death and as the paintings are supposed to have been found on the walls of the two stories of the building: If the upper floors do not exist in Goya's time, of course it (the Black Paintings) is not by Goya. Janquera also states that there is no testimony by Goya’s contemporaries concerning the Black Paintings. His hypothesis is that the paintings were created by Goya's son, Javier who had full access to the Quinta and knowledge of the master's oeuvre and technique. They were possibly passed off as Goyas by Javier's son, Mariano who is described as a profligate or maybe Javier himself used the paintings (even if he did not paint them) to fetch a higher price for the house. Manuela Mena, the senior curator of 18th-century painting of Museo Nacional del Prado, speaking of this issue, has commented: We cannot send The DogThe Dog (Goya)
The Dog is the name usually given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. It shows the head of a small black dog gazing upwards...
to the museum basement because it was on the apparently nonexisting second floor of the Quinta.