"Dark Pictures"
So, let's dwell on a certain moment in Goya's biography - 1819. The artist acquires a two-story estate on the banks of the Manzanares River in the outskirts of Madrid. In the same period, he again became seriously ill. The artist struggles with the disease, but deafness more and more seizes him. Therefore, the strange name given by Goya himself to the estate - “The House of the Deaf” - “Quinto del Sordo” - is not at all accidental. In the next three years, Goya painted the walls of his house in the "a secco" technique on re-moistened plaster. It is known for certain that the "Dark Pictures" were written on top of earlier images, which Goya used as a basis.
In 1823, Goya leaves for Bordeaux and leaves his estate to his grandson Mariano - possibly in order to protect property from possible confiscation after the restoration of absolute monarchy in Spain by Ferdinand the Seventh. For half a century, the murals of the "House of the Deaf" were unknown to the public, with the exception of a few friends of the artist and specialists. In 1874, the artist Salvador Martinez Cubells, at the request of the French banker Frederic Emile d "Erlanger, began to transfer all the paintings from the walls to canvases. It took several years. D" Erlanger wanted to sell the paintings at the World Exhibition in Paris, but this was not destined to happen, and in 1881 he donated the paintings to the Prado Museum in Madrid, where they remain to this day.
Goya himself did not name his "Gloomy Paintings". This was done by his friend, the painter Antonio Brugada, who, after Goya's death in 1828, cataloged the entire cycle. As a result, the paintings received the following names:
The first floor of the house.
- "Festival in San Isidro"
- "Coven of Witches"
- "Judith and Holofernes"
- "Saturn devouring his children"
- "Donia Leocadia Zorilla"
- "The Old Man and the Monk" or "Two Old Men".
The second floor of the house.
- "Fantastic Visions" or "Asmodeus"
- "Pilgrimage to the source of San Isidro"
- "Atropos" or "Fate"
- "Duel on clubs"
- "Laughing Women"
- "Reading men"
- "Dog"
- "Two old men eating soup"
The location of the paintings in the house is known from photographs taken by photographer Jean Laurent in 1874. Thanks to these photographs, it is known that the paintings were also framed with stucco, as were the windows and doors in the house. In addition, you can notice the difference in the condition of the paintings before transferring them to canvas, see the missing fragments.
There is no actual information about the process of wall painting itself. In this regard, there were even rumors that the paintings were not written by Goya - there was a theory that they were written by Javier, his son, after Goya left for Bordeaux. However, art historians reject this theory - the technique in which the frescoes are made and their style confirms the authorship of the artist.
It is not known what exactly prompted Goya to paint the walls of his house with these scenes. But it is known that the paintings were created in not the best period of the artist's life. His physical condition was unstable, and the state of life in Spain in general was also unstable. There was a civil war in the country, which ended with the restoration of the absolute monarchy. Three years of this war just fall on the period of writing "Dark Canvases". In the paintings, it is easy to trace an analogy with the situations in the social, political and religious spheres of the country of that time. Let's analyze some of the work.
“Saturn Devouring His Children” is a truly terrible work, at the sight of which a person awakens not with fear, but in any case, hostility and anxiety. The ancient deity - Saturn - is depicted against a background of coal-black darkness, his figure is broken and as if convulsing, his hands, similar to the plexus of tree branches, hold the body of a child whose head Saturn bites off. Blood stands out in a disturbing red color on the canvas. You can say that Goya wrote this in a depressed state, and perhaps with the thought of a war in Spain - you can compare Saturn with a country that destroys its own children.
In the painting “Judith and Holofernes”, the energy of earthly deed reigns, captured in its instantaneity. Having just jumped off the bed of Holofernes (slightly visible on the right), not yet tidying up her disheveled clothes, crumpled by love caresses, the heroine threw a sword over the head of the sleeping Assyrian commander and now cuts it off (here there is the first visual-semantic correspondence between her and Saturn - he began to devour his victim from the head). The falling forward movement of Judith, her sharply brightened face, shoulder, hand with a sword - all this also sticks out of the spatial field of the painting, like the knees, hands and head of Saturn.
"Pilgrimage to San Isidro" echoes more early work Goya, written in 1788 - "People's festivities on the day of St. Isidore." Both works depict one of the favorite holidays of the inhabitants of Madrid. Every year on May 15, they went to the banks of the Manzanares River to have picnics there, dance and drink healing water from the source, which, according to legend, was found by Saint Isidore. And, if in 1788 the painter presented this scene as a colorful and cheerful national holiday, full of carefree fun, then in the later version from the "House of the Deaf" black tones dominate and an alarming feeling of impending inevitable disaster reigns. A crowd of people huddled close to each other wanders along the dry, uneven ground. Their faces are distorted with terrible grimaces, they express fear, pain, horror, malice and bestial malice.
The same motifs appear in The Witches' Sabbath. The compositional center of the picture is also a faceless, ugly crowd, concentrated around the figure of a goat in a monastic cassock, listening to every word of the messenger of Satan. People's faces - ugly grimaces that do not even look like people's faces - Goya seemed to want to emphasize how a person can easily lose his human appearance.
In "Duel with Clubs" you can also find a response to the military events taking place next to the artist - two people who are so similar to each other are trying to cripple each other with heavy maces in a brutal blind duel. It is not clear how their feet are on the ground - they seem to be floating in space, just like the characters in the paintings "Atropos, or Fates" and "Asmodeus".
These paintings are full of mysticism, they seem to depict a completely different, unreal world, it is impossible to even say who the characters in the paintings are people or some fantastic creatures. The plot of the painting "Atropos" - the interpretation of the images of the ancient Greek goddesses of fate - Moir or fate as such Homer, Hesiod, Virgil and other ancient authors. The Moirai were led by Atropa, a ruthless goddess who cut the thread of life with her scissors. Clotho and Lachesis were her associates, but there is also a fourth figure on the canvas, resembling a man with his hands tied - perhaps because he is powerless in front of the goddesses who determine his fate.
“Dog” is written in lighter colors than other “Dark Canvases”, but it still carries sadness and hopelessness - the picture shows the head of a dog that is drowning either in the waves of the sea or in piles of sand - the exact plot of the picture is inexplicable, it may not have been completed at all, one can only speculate. The muzzle of the dog is directed upwards, sad eyes look somewhere ahead, as if they are looking for salvation. In Laurent's photograph taken in 1874, the painting shows outlines resembling a cliff and bird figures, which the dog may be looking at.
The range of all fourteen paintings is black, brown, sandy, dark shades, there are practically no bright, rich colors in the paintings, except that in the “Duel” a piece of the blue sky stands out, and in “Saturn” bright red blood. Thanks to such tones, the emotions that the plots of the paintings carry in themselves are amplified many times over. It is no coincidence that these canvases are called "Gloomy".
But it must be said that all the names and interpretations of paintings are the result of the activities of other people, other generations. It is not given to us to find out what the artist actually had inside when he painted the walls of his house, for what purpose he did it, to whom he wanted to leave these paintings and what to say with them. One can only draw analogies with the well-known biographical facts about Goya, with the events taking place in the 1820s in Spain. These events could not but be reflected in the work of Goya, attentive and sensitive, worried about changes in the life of his country, noticing human vices and weaknesses, and exposing them, as he did in the Caprichos series.
There is no doubt only that the Murals of the "House of the Deaf" are a unique heritage of Spanish and world art, the paintings are really unusual and outstanding for the period of time when they were painted. In them we see the “real” Goya - after all, the artist painted them on the walls of his house, and not in order to put them up for public judgment or sell them - which means that he could accurately convey his thoughts and states to these canvases.
A number of iconic works of the famous Spaniard.
Goya
Francisco de Goya is a famous Spanish painter and engraver. He gained his initial fame as a creator of beautiful tapestries, but the true fame came to him already as a court painter of the Spanish crown. The uniqueness of Goya's works is given by a creative approach and a bold use of colors. The master's style inspired many imitators and had a major impact on the art world.
Umbrella (1777)
This work is part of a series of 63 works that the artist created at the beginning of his career. It is believed that the work on this cycle helped the master to study the ways of human interaction, which later turned out to be important in the creation of later masterpieces. "Umbrella" combines the motives of French and Spanish fashion.
Dog (1823)
The group of well-known "Black Paintings" created by Francisco in the later stages of his work also includes the image of a dog, which is easy to lose in the artistic space of the picture. Usually the work is interpreted as a symbol of a person's struggle with troubles and evil forces.
Mahi (1797–1805)
Both works (“Maja Nude” and “Maja Clothed”) are located side by side in the same room of the Prado Museum (Madrid). Among the artists who created paintings inspired by these works of Goya, Ignacio Zuloaga and Edouard Manet should be noted. To this day, it is not known who served as the model for main character paintings, but traditionally the 13th Duchess of Alba is called the source of inspiration for the artist.
On the pedestal of the monument to the artist, installed in front of the Prado Museum, there is a sculptural image based on the painting "Nude Maja".
Great Goat (1821–1823)
The "Black Painting" is often regarded by art historians as a satire on the subject of superstition and depicts Satan speaking to a group of witches.
Charles IV and his family (1801)
The portrait shows the ostentatiously dressed King of Spain and his family. It should be noted that the unwillingness of the artist to flatter and lie led to the fact that Goya, according to modern researchers, showed the corrupt nature of their power in the portrait of the monarch and his family. Probably, the person barely visible on the left is the author of the work.
Disasters of war (1810–1820)
This series of 82 engravings is one of Goya's most significant works. Art historians divide the series into three parts:
- The first 47 engravings show the horrors of war.
- The second 18 works depict the consequences of the famine.
- The last 17 reflect the disappointment associated with the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.
This series is a phenomenal visualization author's position, which contains indignation and bold political statements.
Disasters of war. 39 work from the series.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1799)
This composition is also part of the Caprichos series, consisting of 80 works. Sleeping among the tools, the artist is surrounded by monsters that symbolize ignorance and other vices of society.
Saturn Devouring a Son (1819–1823)
This masterpiece is based on the Roman myth, according to which the titan Saturn ate his children, as he was predicted to die at the hands of one of his sons. However, the prophecy was destined to come true.
“Saturn devouring his son” is an unsettling portrait, part of a series of “black paintings”.
Third of May 1808 (1814)
On May 2, 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the French occupiers. Goya depicts this scene in the painting The Third of May 1808. In the center of the canvas is a retaliatory strike by French troops, as a result of which hundreds of Spaniards were shot. Revolutionary in style and level of symbolism, the painting inspired Pablo Picasso to create the famous Guernica.
Burial of a sardine (circa 1808–1814)
Accademia San Fernando, Madrid Goya presents the folk carnival as a demonic feast. Under the pressure of the Inquisition, the artist was forced to change the original version of the painting and replace the inscription on the gonfalon mortus (died) with the grimace of the mask. The seething joy and distorted joy of the unbridled crowd are a grotesque allegory for the existing social order. In his work, Goya rebels against the order established by the Inquisition and demonstrates the impotence of his contemporaries in front of them.
Portrait of Francisco Baie (1795)
After 1794 Goya creates a number of portraits from nature. Thanks to the sharp observation and precise technique of the artist, his works are distinguished by deep psychologism and insight into inner world person. Here is a portrait of Goya's court painter and brother-in-law, Francisco Baye (1734-1795), shortly before his death. A tired, slightly irritated facial expression and a casually buttoned frock coat characterize the personality of the model. At the same time, the frozen posture, the characteristic bend of the hand, and the attentive gaze emphasize the inner dignity of the person being portrayed.
Court of the Inquisition (circa 1800)
Goya repeatedly addressed the topic of the court of the Inquisition, emphasizing the cruelty of the ceremony and tragic fate his victims, who were put on the caps of heretics. Lighting effects and the manner of overlaying colors help depict the trial, which is led by obscurantists. The faces of the judges - monks and priests - are distorted by the grimaces of death, and their figures merge into a single amorphous mass.
Blind Man's Bluff (1791)
Scenes Everyday life and folk entertainment, which are characterized by rich colors and ease of composition, showed new trends in the artist's work. Goya reveals the real world in all its infinite diversity. The attractiveness of this sketch for a tapestry designed to decorate an office in the Escorial Palace is manifested in the bright colors, in the ease of movement of the characters. For Goya, the depiction of figures in a gentle, watercolor color is typical, the figures of the characters seem to dissolve in a thin haze.
Famous paintings by Francisco Goya updated: January 21, 2018 by: Gleb
"Black Paintings" Goya
In 1819, Goya buys an estate - “twenty-two acres of cultivated land with a house. He liked the seclusion of the place and the name of the estate - Quinta del Sordo (House of the Deaf).
A few decades before the events described, Goya became deaf as a result of an illness. His deafness was complete.
Goya did not hear a sound; he also did not use, like many brothers in misfortune, either the alphabet of gestures or writing instruments for conducting a conversation. It seems that the injury locked the artist in a lock, which only painting could open.
The only people who shared the loneliness of the 72-year-old artist were the rude housekeeper Leocadia and her daughter (who, according to some reports, was the daughter of Goya himself).
Shortly after moving to Quinta del Sordo, Goya fell seriously ill. For six months his life hung in the balance, but whether the old man's strong body survived or the efforts of Dr. Arieta, who saved him, at the beginning of 1820 he began to recover.
Self-portrait with Dr. Arieta (1820)
Barely recovering, Goya hurried. Staggering from weakness, he walked around the house, peering at the walls, testing the crevices and bulges of the surfaces with his palm. A strange idea was born in his head...
Between 1820 and 1823, Goya decorated the 2 largest rooms of his own building with a series of paintings, they were called "black" for their gloomy coloring and plots that evoke nightmares, these are the tragic creations of the artist's imagination
The Spaniards call them Pintura negra, we conscientiously translate the Black Paintings, meanwhile we are talking about frescoes. They covered all the walls and piers of Quinta del Sordo.
These scenes are characterized by a severe and courageous manner of the message; everything in them reminds of death and vanity human life.
A real artist thinks in terms of form and space, and indeed, if you mentally follow the location of the frescoes, it is not difficult to see that each of them was created for a specific place.
"Black paintings" adorned the walls of the "House of the Deaf" until the 1870s, after which they were acquired by Baron Emil Erlanger, a German banker and art collector. The paintings were transferred from the walls to canvas and exhibited in 1878 in Paris.
In 1881 they were donated to the Prado Museum in Madrid.
"Black paintings" during the life of the artist, with the exception of family members, not one saw alive soul.
in the "Black Pictures" there are no thoughts, no feelings - painting has absorbed philosophy, beliefs, passions and crushed their monstrous strength with the pressure of a single thought-feeling - the denial of man.
Not any specific, Spanish or contemporaries, but as such, its nature and the thinnest layer of civilizational pollen on top of it. He transferred Dante's warning - leave hope, everyone who enters here - from the gates of hell to the world of the living.
At a time when the most brilliant brushes sang of the revolution and Beethoven was finishing in Vienna the last part of the Ninth Symphony, a hymn to humanity - the great "Ode", at the other end of Europe, in the suburbs of provincial Madrid, a deaf old man methodically, fresco after fresco, restored the perpendicular to all signs and ideas of his time, but at the same time to all the aspirations and disappointments human existence.
Pintura negra embodies absolute nihilism. And the most amazing, deepest, most radical philosophical idea expressed exclusively by pictorial means: the finest gamut of black, with small white patches that magically turn blackness into darkness.
Did the cycle of frescoes have a common idea? Undoubtedly, and this is indicated by the general color tone of all the paintings that depict humans and humanoids.
Looking at the work of Goya, one can find the answer: - the decline in morals in a modern consumer society is caused not by the multiplying information flow and industrialization, but by the weakness of the human soul, brought up by things. The more perfect and functional things become, the weaker man spiritually as well as physically.
On the first floor, on both sides of the entrance, there are images of a beautiful majestic woman (most likely, this is Dona Leocadia).
The woman seems to represent a healthy, youthful sensibility
Dona Leocadia
And on the contrary - two men: one, angry and agitated, whispers something in the ear of the second, unshakably calm.
two monks
On the opposite wall, Goya writes Judith brandishing her sword to cut off the head of Holofernes. The heroic episode of the biblical story acquires an ominous connotation in Goya's interpretation.
This is an example of how deeply rooted in the mind of Goya the idea of the cruelty of a woman.
On the same wall, next to Judith - Saturn, squeezing his son in his huge hands and bringing him to his bloodied mouth - a symbol of the incomprehensible irrationality of the universe and the disfigured paternal principle, just as Judith can be a symbol of a perverted maternal principle.
This is one of the most terrible and disgusting canvases in all world art - "Saturn devouring his son." It is difficult, almost impossible, to look into the crazy eyes of Saturn tearing the body of an infant to pieces. The unjustified cruelty of the image makes one doubt the mental health of the person who created such a wild picture.
"Saturn devouring his children."
Why an ancient Roman god, where did children come from?
If you look closely, you will see that the victim has well-developed, by no means childish, female forms; a radiograph taken decades ago found an agitated male organ in the "father" ("edited" during restoration in the 1870s) - but the painting is still referred to as "Saturn devouring his children."
On the long side walls we see two huge paintings - "Pilgrimage to St. Isidore" and "Witches' Sabbath".
In the Pilgrimage to San Isidro, Goya depicted a crowd wandering from nowhere to nowhere. Nothing in the picture itself says that we have pilgrims in front of us, there are no topographical and other signs of the church of San Isidro and the cemetery around it on the canvas at all ...
. "Pilgrimage" vaguely resembles a charming sketch for the tapestry "Feast in San Isidoro", but it is, as it were, the "dark side" of the spring festivities. A group of madmen and drunkards, huddled together against the backdrop of a gloomy landscape, makes a depressing impression.
The darkness has thickened over the stage, despair breaks into fun and distorts the faces of the singers who occupy the central place in the picture, confusion seized the crowd, consisting of figures wrapped in cloaks, which are more reminiscent of shadows restless in disorder. Yet there is nothing sinister in this crowd, people are frightened by the darkness that has enveloped them, but they are hardly guilty of it.
Pilgrimage to San Isidro
Even more terrible is the crowd depicted in the "Witches' Sabbath" - people with monstrously distorted faces, which are difficult to call faces, ghouls and witches, rushing towards a huge black goat - the Devil, similar to a giant shadow.
This crowd has lost its human appearance, the faces of people resemble the muzzles of animals and testify to the victory of the irrational principle. Goya once again reminded in this scene of his hatred of irrationalism, presented here in the form of black magic, and of his many years of passion for this topic.
"Coven"
What a contrast with the early painting of the same name, made for Countess Osuna, where the devil seemed to be a harmless "gray goat", and the whole scene was more of a playful character.
Witches Sabbat-1798
Together with "Saint Isidore", this picture is a merciless trial of the man of the crowd. If an individual allows himself to be dissolved in the crowd, he will inevitably lose his human qualities.
The gallery of eerie images and fantastic visions continues on the second floor of the house.
"Two Laughing Women" make up a pair of "Old Men for Chowder" - innocent, at first glance, plots that nevertheless somehow disgust.
Women's laughter resembles a vile grimace,
"Two Laughing Women"
and old people with gaping toothless mouths do not cause a drop of sympathy
"Old Men for Chowder"
The “bull shepherds” brutally beat each other, one is already covered in blood, both are knee-deep in a quagmire from which they will never be able to get out and will be forever doomed to a senseless fight. All this takes place against the backdrop of a serene rural landscape.
"Bull Shepherds"
Another “Pilgrimage to Saint Isidore” is also presented here, although this human whirlpool can hardly be called a “pilgrimage” - the pilgrims are carried away into the dark forest by a stream of light.
"Pilgrimage to Saint Isidore"
One of the most curious pictures of the cycle is “Fantastic Vision” (aka “Cliff under fire from guns” and aka “Asmodeus”).
Two huge figures flying towards the city on the cliff hover above the crowd, ignoring the shooters who aim at them from cover. The picture is as phantasmagoric as the other paintings of the House, however, the rock, the city, and the horsemen at the foot of the mountains are quite specific, which made it possible to guess that Goya tried to depict his vision of one of the episodes of the war with the French in this form.
"Cliff, fired from guns" and she is "Asmodeus"
The picture is a little out of the general range: “Reading” - expressing the artist’s faith in the triumph of reason amid the madness of harsh reality,
"Reading"
In the entire long wall to the left of the entrance, the artist painted Fate and Fight
Goya. Atropos (The Fates)
Fresco "Dog" - at first seeming abstraction. But, looking closely, we will see a cur, with the last of her strength, fighting the earthen ramparts, which at any moment can fall on her.
"Dog"
The only one of all the frescoes is given a thin multi-colored glazing - the image of a dog that either howls sadly at the moon, or tries to swim out of this world into a better one. There is no other such self-portrait in world art either.
"Black Paintings" became an expression of the old artist's nightmares that haunted him throughout his life and became especially aggravated in last years. At the same time, it is the quintessence of his thoughts and feelings, love and hate, rejection of the crowd, passionate unwillingness to grow old, contempt for superstitions and, in spite of everything, faith in the power of reason.
In his declining years, Goya found the strength to plunge into the depths of the subconscious, to pull out his deepest, darkest thoughts, and his courage was rewarded. Since then, gloomy visions have forever ceased to torment the artist, remaining on the walls of the House of the Deaf.
X-rays showed that there were others under these frescoes. Having settled in the Goya House, he painted the walls with the images of his past life familiar to him, there were festivities, scenes from city life ... Then illness, delirium, visions ... he destroyed the past, replaced it with painful nightmares.
(Spanish) Russian or old man and monk, Two old men eating soup (Spanish) Russian, Duel on clubs (Spanish) Russian, Coven (Spanish) Russian, Reading men (Spanish) Russian, Judith and Holofernes (Spanish) Russian, Festival in San Isidro (Spanish) Russian, Laughing women (Spanish) Russian, (Spanish) Russian, "Dog ", Saturn devouring his son (Spanish) Russian, Doña Leocardia Zorrilla (Spanish) Russian and fantastic visions (Spanish) Russian or Asmodeus.In 1823, Goya's house, along with wall paintings, became the property of his grandson Mariano Goya, most likely in this way Goya tried to save his property from possible confiscation after the restoration of absolute monarchy and repression by Ferdinand VII. Within 50 years of its creation Dark pictures were unknown to the general public (with the exception of a few specialists, as described by Charles Iriarte). In 1874 Salvador Martinez Cubells (Spanish) Russian at the request of the French banker Frederic Emile d "Erlanger (English) Russian began the transfer of paintings from plaster to canvas. This process took several years. D'Erlanger intended to sell the paintings at the World Exhibition in Paris, but in 1881 he donated them to the Prado Museum, where they are exhibited in our time.
"Dark Pictures" and their history
In February 1819, Goya purchased an estate on the banks of the Manzanares River, not far from the Segovia Bridge. (Spanish) Russian , overlooking the meadows of San Isidro. He hoped that he could live there with Leocardia Weiss, without attracting attention and avoiding gossip, since she was married to the merchant Isidoro Weiss. Leocardia, probably from a connection with the artist, had a daughter, Rosarita. Between February and November 1819, before Goya becomes seriously ill - this is evidenced by the painting Goya is treated by Dr. Arrieta (Spanish) Russian(1820) - the artist begins to paint the walls of his house. It is well known that Dark pictures were written on top of earlier images that Goya used as a basis, such as for Duel with clubs (Spanish) Russian.
If the original paintings were similar in their carefree mood to the works of the Aragonese period, then it can be assumed that Goya's decision to paint over them was influenced by bouts of illness, perhaps along with the turbulent events of the Liberal Triennium. bosal (Spanish) Russian I am inclined to believe that the paintings originally painted are by Goya, and he used his materials a second time; however Glendinning (Spanish) Russian suggests that the paintings "already adorned the walls of Quinta del Sordo when the estate was acquired." In any case, Goya could work on paintings in his villa starting in 1820. Completion of the work cannot be dated after 1823, as at this time Goya moves to Bordeaux and leaves the estate to his grandson Mariano, possibly fearing reprisals from the authorities after the fall of Riego. In 1830, Mariano de Goya transferred his property to his father, Javier de Goya.
There was a theory that attributed the creation Of gloomy pictures Javier de Goya (artist's son); however, Bosal and Glendinning, the largest researchers of Goya's work, rejected this theory. It is hard to imagine that such an unusual fact would not be known to contemporaries. The drawing technique, the quality of the stroke, the grotesque depiction of people, the obsessive themes that are also present in previous and subsequent works, make the attribution of authorship to Javier de Goya unreasonable.
Antonio Brugada pointed to the presence of seven paintings on the first floor and eight on the second, but subsequently only fourteen got into the Prado Museum. Charles Iriarte, who later visited the farm, also describes the paintings that are known today and indicates that a large piece was torn from the wall. Many art historians believe, based on the similarity of style and subject matter, that the fifteenth painting is Heads in the landscape(New York, Stanley Moss Collection).
Another unresolved issue is the original location of the painting. Two old men eating soup (Spanish) Russian, about which it is not known whether it hung on the first or second floor. Without this detail, the original placement of the paintings in Quinto del Sordo was as follows:
- First floor: It was a large rectangular room. The long walls had two windows next to the short walls. On them hung two large paintings: Festival in San Isidro (Spanish) Russian to the right as viewed from the front door, and Coven (Spanish) Russian left. On the far short wall, opposite the entrance in the center, there was a large window, to the right of it was Judith and Holofernes (Spanish) Russian, and on the left Saturn devouring his son (Spanish) Russian. hung near the door Dona Leocardia Zorilla (Spanish) Russian(against Saturn) and Two old men (Spanish) Russian or old man and monk against Judith.
- Second floor: The room had the same dimensions as on the ground floor, but on the long walls there was one window in the center, each of which surrounded one picture on the right and left. On the right side closer to the entrance was Fantastic visions or Asmodeus (Spanish) Russian and (Spanish) Russian away from the entrance. On the left side were respectively Atropos or fate (Spanish) Russian and Duel on clubs (Spanish) Russian. On the far short side were Laughing women (Spanish) Russian right and Reading men (Spanish) Russian left. On the wall closest to the entrance on the right was "Dog", and on the left is another picture, presumably "Heads in a Landscape".
There is a widespread view among art critics that Dark pictures were created by Goya in a state of psychological and social pressure. One of the most important factors was the artist's awareness of the decline in physical strength, which he could not help but feel while living with Leocardia Weiss, a woman who was much younger than him, and also due to a serious illness in 1819, when he was dying, which was reflected in color scheme and subject matter.
On the other hand, Goya painted these paintings in the 1820s (which, however, there is no documentary evidence), and by this time he had already recovered from his illness. satirical image religious scenes (pilgrimages, processions, inquisition) or civil unrest (for example, in Duel with clubs or in a supposed representation of a meeting or conspiracy in Reading men; there is also a political interpretation of the plot Saturn: the state devours its subjects) is consistent with the political instability in Spain after the military, led by Riego, demanded that the king comply with the constitution of 1812. The period 1820-1823 chronologically coincides with the completion of the work. Apparently, the themes and palette of paintings became possible in the absence of political censorship during the restoration of the absolute monarchy. On the other hand, many characters Of gloomy pictures(duelists, monks and nuns, inquisitors) represent the old order that existed before the ideals of the French Revolution.
Notes
Salvador Martínez Cubells (1842-1914), restorer of the Prado Museum and academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, transferred paintings to canvas by order of Baron Frederic Emile d'Erlanger (1832-1911) who bought the estate in 1873. Martínez Cubells did this work together with his brothers Enrique and Francisco Valeriano (…)
original text(Spanish)
Salvador Martínez Cubells (1842–1914), restaurador del Museo del Prado y académico de número de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, trasladó las pinturas a lienzo por encargo del que en aquel momento, 1873, era propietario de la quinta, el barón Fréderic Emile d "Erlanger (1832–1911). Martínez Cubells realizó este trabajo ayudado por sus hermanos Enrique y Francisco (...) Valeriano Bozal, Francisco Goya(2 parts.), Madrid, Tf. Editores, 2005, no. 2, p. 247, ISBN 84-96209-39-3.]"
AT 1819 Goya bought an estate - "twenty-two acres of cultivated land with a house ... behind the Segovia bridge ... on the side where the monastery of the holy guardian angel once stood." By a strange coincidence, a man lived in a neighboring house, who, like Goya, was deaf, so the locals called his dwelling Quinto del Sordo, House of the Deaf. After Goya's death, his own house began to be called that. The only people who shared the loneliness of the 72-year-old artist were the rude housekeeper Leocadia and her daughter (who, according to some reports, was the daughter of Goya himself).
On the first floor, on both sides of the entrance, there are images of a beautiful majestic woman (most likely, this is Dona Leocadia) and two men: one, angry and agitated, whispers something in the ear of the second, unshakably calm. On the opposite wall, Goya writes Judith brandishing her sword to cut off the head of Holofernes. The heroic episode of the biblical story acquires an ominous connotation in Goya's interpretation. And nearby, on the same wall, the master creates one of the most terrible and disgusting canvases in all world art - "Saturn devouring his son." It is difficult, almost impossible, to look into the crazy eyes of Saturn tearing the body of an infant to pieces. The unjustified cruelty of the image makes one doubt the mental health of the person who created such a wild picture.
On the long side walls we see two huge paintings - "Pilgrimage to St. Isidore" and "Witches' Sabbath". "Pilgrimage" vaguely resembles a lovely cardboard sketch for the tapestry "Feast in San Isidoro", but it is like the "dark side" of the spring festivities. A group of madmen and drunkards, huddled together against the backdrop of a gloomy landscape, makes a depressing impression. Even more terrible is the crowd depicted in the "Witches' Sabbath" - people with monstrously distorted faces, which are difficult to call faces, ghouls and witches, rushing towards a huge black goat - the Devil, similar to a giant shadow. What a contrast with the early painting of the same name, made for Countess Osuna, where the devil seemed to be a harmless "gray goat", and the whole scene was more of a playful character!
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The gallery of eerie images and fantastic visions continues on the second floor of the house. "Two Laughing Women" make up a pair of "Old Men for Chowder" - innocent, at first glance, plots that nevertheless somehow disgust. Women's laughter resembles a vile grimace, and old people with gaping toothless mouths do not cause a drop of sympathy. There are four more large paintings in this room. The “bull shepherds” brutally beat each other, one is already covered in blood, both are knee-deep in a quagmire from which they will never be able to get out and will be forever doomed to a senseless fight. All this takes place against the backdrop of a serene rural landscape. Another “Pilgrimage to Saint Isidore” is also presented here, although this human whirlpool can hardly be called a “pilgrimage” - the pilgrims are carried away into the dark forest by a stream of light.
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In the next picture, Goya again refers to the theme of the goddesses of fate in the parks. These vile old women were already appearing on the sheets of Caprichos and spinning their yarn, which unhappy humanity had to unravel. In Quinto del Sordo they have soared above the world and, with an evil giggle, look out from above for new victims. One of the most curious pictures of the cycle is “Fantastic Vision” (aka “Cliff under fire from guns” and aka “Asmodeus”). Two huge figures flying towards the city on the cliff hover above the crowd, ignoring the shooters who aim at them from cover. The picture is as phantasmagorical as the other paintings of the House, however, the rock, the city, and the horsemen at the foot of the mountains are quite specific, which made it possible to guess that Goya tried to depict his vision of one of the episodes of the war with the French in this form.
In general, the meaning of all the paintings is rather vague and difficult to decipher. Two paintings stand out a little from the general series: "Reading" - expressing the artist's faith in the triumph of reason amid the madness of harsh reality, and "Dog" - at first seeming to be an abstraction. But, looking closely, we will see a cur, with the last of her strength, fighting the earthen ramparts, which at any moment can fall on her.
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The "Black Paintings" became an expression of the old artist's nightmares that haunted him throughout his life and became especially aggravated in recent years. At the same time, it is the quintessence of his thoughts and feelings, love and hate, rejection of the crowd, passionate unwillingness to grow old, contempt for superstitions and, in spite of everything, faith in the power of reason.
In his declining years, Goya found the strength to plunge into the depths of the subconscious, to pull out his deepest, darkest thoughts, and his courage was rewarded. Since then, gloomy visions have forever ceased to torment the artist, remaining on the walls of the House of the Deaf.