Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, well-known as Francisco Goya, was born on the 30th of March, 1746 in Fuendetodos, Aragon, Spain. At the age of 14, he became an apprentice of a painter named Jose Luzan. He then later moved to Madrid to study painting. He was married to Josefa Bayeu in 1773, a sister of Francisco Bayeu who was a Saragossa artist. He later became a well-known portrait painter to the Spanish aristocracy and was considered a romantic painter and print-maker; he was then recognized as a painter to the king in 1786. In 1789, he was designated as a court painter. In 1792, he was left permanently deaf by an illness that struck him. He continued to paint more portrait paintings until he died in April 16, 1828 in Bordeaux at the age of 82. He was buried in Bordeaux but his remains were transferred to the Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida in Madrid in the year 1919.
Francisco de Goya was considered as one of the most famed painter of all time because he was a Romantic painter at first before he began to paint religious paintings. He was considered by many people as the Father of Modern Art because his unique perspective was not only fresh but also original. His paintings, not only portrait paintings, became famous also because of the delicate tonalities that can be found in them. The majority of Goya’s paintings are famous for having realistically bold techniques and haunting satire. The subversive and imaginative elements that can be found in his paintings provided as a model for later generation artists.
De Goya had a unique capability to find a universal and timeless meaning in a certain instances of human behavior and became an inspiration to the succeeding generations of artists. He also influenced some of the great artists in the 20th century, the most famous is Pablo Picasso. The succeeding lineage of influences that was made by Goya has encouraged a lot of people to give a label as the “first modernist” of his time.
The best example of Francisco de Goya’s renowned paintings is Christ Crucified, which is considered as one of the best in the world. The Christ Crucified is a portrait painting of Christ who is nailed on the cross. The style that he used in this painting is neoclassical. De Goya obeyed the rules of the Spanish Baroque Iconography in portraying the Crucifixion of Christ, as created by Francisco Pacheco. He removed here the emphasis of devotional features such as drama, presence of blood, and the like, by obeying the rules. This was in order to have the attention of people on the soft modeling of the painting. This painting is one of his most special portrait paintings since this area of painting is one of the most difficult to convey.
Many of Francisco de Goya’s famous paintings are being displayed in the El Prado art museum in Madrid.
Author: Shyxter
Tags: Francisco de Goya, portrait painter, portrait painting