by Tim McNeese
paintings for the Church of San Francisco el Grande that
included Goya’s contribution, a work featuring St. Bernard
preaching.Goyawastherethatday,andthepaintingwaswell
received. Again he wrote a letter to Zapater, expressing his
joy: “I have had good luck with my St. Bernard, according
tothejudgmentoftheaudienceaswellasthatofthegeneral
public.Withoutreservation,theyareallforme.”62 Theyear
1784broughtothersuccesses.Goyareceivedcommissionsto
paintmoreportraitsofnobilityaswellasfourpaintingsfor
the church of Calatrava College, located in western Spain.
(Those works would be destroyed during the Napoleonic
Wars a generation later.) He painted The Annunciation for
70
FRANCISCO GOyA
SanAntoniodelPradoinMadridattherequestofthedukeof
Medinaceli.Theduke’sfamilywasoneofthemostimportant
inallofSpain.
Goya’s career continued its upward advance in the fol-
lowingyear.Hewasintroducedtothemarquisandmarquise
de Penafiel, the future duke and duchess of Osuna, and the
meeting would have a long-range impact on Goya’s future.
They would become his patrons for the next 30 years. The
marquisedePenafiel,whowasalsothecountessofBenavente,
wasconsidered“themostdistinguishedwomaninMadrid,for
hertalents,worthandtaste.”63Despitehermarriagetoafirst
cousinwhowasnottoobrightorenergetic,shewasknownfor
herkeenwit,sophistication,elegance,andconstantdrive.She
couldreadSpanishandFrenchequallywellandwasknownfor
herfinesingingvoice.Shewasanexperthorsewoman,loved
to attend bullfights, and reveled in conversations spent with
matadors,poets,writers,actors,artists,andintellectuals.The
marquisewasalsoasupporteroftheEnlightenment.Sheeven
gavelecturesonthenewscienceoftheday.
AftermeetingthemarquisedePenafiel,Goyabecameher
favoritepainter.In1785,hepaintedportraitsofbothherand
herhusband.Itwashisportraitofherthathelped“establish
Goyaasthebestportraitistofhisage.”64 The Countess-Duchess
of Benaventeisastraight-forwardwork,withnohiddenmean-
ings,noartfulsymbols,andnoclutter.Shestands,everyinch
ofherbodycoveredinhat,gloves,andgown,exceptforher
face,whichispaleandsadlypretty.Thepaintingrevealsthe
countess’s lively, intellectually driven personality. She stares
ahead,withaslightsmileofthelongbowthatishermouth.
Colorsblendfromfacetofabric,forthepaintingisasmuch
aboutherclothingasanything.Thereareribbonsandbows,
silksandfinestitchery,andflowersandfans.Sheisdrenched
in pinks, creams, blues, and yards of lace. Goya has painted
hispatronasfemininelyaspossible,yetsheisnotacoquette.
Sheisaworldlywoman,readytohearwhatyouhavetosay.
“The Enlightened Ones”
71
Yetsheisdiscerninginherjudgmentandfarabovehersocial
peers.
With patrons like the count and countess of Benavente,
Goya was in a position to advance himself further. In early
February1785,hemadeapplicationforthepositionofDeputy
Director of Painting at the Academy of San Fernando, the
royalschoolthathadpassedoverhispaintingsincompetition
20yearsearlier.HereceivedthepostonMay4.Theyear1785
wasawhirlwindofadvancement,newconnections,andsuc-
cesses, marred only by the death of Don Luis. Goya’s career
wasgoingplaces,andfast.Thefollowingyearwouldbejustas
productive.
Goyahadreachedthepointofhisfulltalentpotential.His
workswerefullydevelopedtechnicallyandstylistically.Hewas
settinganewcourseforSpanishart.Histalent,asitremained
allthroughhislife,wasfluid,adaptable,andcapableofchange
that was brought on by new circumstances and the people
whogavehimsupport.Thisphaseofhislifewasoneofrela-
tivecontentment,whenhisartconveyedthecharmofyearsof
peaceandprosperity.Thepeacewasnotonlyhisownbutthat
ofhiscountry.Spainwasnotatwaryet,butintheyearsahead,
whenwardidreachhiscountry,Goya’speaceandthatofhis
countrymenwouldbeshattered.
6
Clouds of
Revolution
Everything seemed to be going Goya’s way. During the
mid-1780s, Goya’s income reached new heights. He had
madesignificantbankinvestmentsearlierinhiscareer,and
his income from those as well as from his position at the
San Fernando Academy amounted to somewhere between
12,000and13,000realesannually.Bysummer1786,hewas
appointedasPintordelRey,PaintertotheKing,whichcar-
ried an additional salary of 15,000 reales a year. (This was
a prestigious position, just a step below that of the royal
court painter.) With his newfound wealth, Goya purchased
asmall,two-wheeledEnglishcarriage,calledacabriolet,“all
gilded and varnished, which people stopped to look at.”65
It was a sporty little model, one of only three in Madrid.
Unfortunately, on his first ride through the countryside,
the carriage overturned, and Goya emerged with an ankle
injury, a small setback. (He continued to drive the carriage
72
Clouds of Revolution
73
foranotheryear,butthenhepurchasedafour-wheeledcar-
riagethatwassaferbecauseitwaspulledbyapairofmules.)
Goya’sstarwasontherise.
NeWFOUND DireCtiON
Goyawassoonbusywithhisnewassignmentasroyaltapestry
painter.(TheTapestryFactoryhehadpaintedforearlierinhis
careerhadclosedin1780,onlytoreopenin1783.)Hewasin
chargeoftheprogramandwasitscreativedirector.Bysum-
mer1786,hewascommissionedtoworkonaseriesoftapes-
triesfortheElPardoPalacediningroom.Goyawasaboutto
produceawonderfulseriesofsixworksofextraordinaryspirit:
Spring, Summer, Autumn,and Winteraswellas The Wounded
Masonand The Poor at the Fountain.
These works would preoccupy Goya until the following
year. Their scale provided Goya with ample space to express
his extraordinary vision of subject matter. His four seasonal
paintings ranged in size from six feet (1.8m) by nine feet
(2.7m)tonine-feet(2.7m)highand12-feet(3.6m)long.He
dividedthesubjectmatterforthesefourworksintotwocat-
egories. Spring (also known as The Flowergirls) and Autumn
( The Vintage) depict two scenes taken from the lives of the
upper class. Spring depicts a country scene of early seasonal
greenery with girls gathering
flowers. A smiling man stands
behind the eldest, ready to surprise her with a small bunny.
Autumn shows a father, mother, and small child inspecting
the grape harvest on their estate, with workers gathered in
thevineyardthatisspreadacrossthepainting’sbackground.
Bothpaintingsrevelintheleisurethatmakesupthelivesof
the wealthy. They are pleasant in color, as the azure, pink,
and white skies of Spain dominate. All is contentment, even
ifthefemaleworkerrestingabasketofgrapesonherheadin
Autumnappearsslightlyweary.
By juxtaposition, the paintings of Summer ( Harvesting)
and Winter ( The Snowstorm)depictthelowerclasses. Summer,
a gigantic painting measuring 12 feet (3.6m) in length,
74
FRANCISCO GOyA
presentshayharvesterstakingabreakfromtheirlabors.They
restonthehay,andchildrenareplayingwithabandonedhay
forks.Itisawell-composedtableauxofworkingclassSpanish
men, painted largely in muted tones of gold and brown.
Perhapstheweakaspectofthepaintingarethetwohorses.
Otherthanbulls,Goyaseemstohaveneverbeenverygood
atportrayinganimals.Bycomparison,Goya’s Winterisstark
and bluish gray, showing five struggling travelers crossing
a winterscape that is bleak and windswept. Goya may have
rememberedtheharshwintersofhisnativeAragonincreat-
ingthework.Ofthefivetravelers,onlyonepeersoutatthe
viewer,frombeneathadirtywhiteshroud,yethisglanceis
aschillingasthewintryuniverseinwhichthefivewander-
ers are trapped. The Wounded Mason and The Poor at the
Fountainareequallybourgeoisieinsubject,thefirstfeatur-
ing two workers carrying their comrade, a mason who has
beeninjuredonthejob.Theother, The Poor at the Fountain,
showsatriooflower-classmothersandtwosonstakingwater
fromalocalwell.Themotherismelancholy,andthefaceof
the only son turned toward the viewer is forlorn. Whether
thesescenesaccuratelyportraytherespectivesubjectsisofno
matter.WhenGoyapaintedtheseworks,intendedforroyal
consumption,theBourbonrulersofSpain“werereformers
whobelievedthatbypresentinganoptimisticviewofordi-
nary people’s lives, picturing their happiest moments, one
couldencourageariseinlivingstandards.”66
Duringthewinterof1786to1787,Goyaalsopaintedsev-
eralportraits,includingthecountofAltamiraandKingCarlos
III.Hisportraitoftheking,anuglyman,appearsstiff.Thisis
probably because, even at this point in his career, Goya was
stillnervousamongsuchroyalty.
Byspring1787,Goyawasonthemoveagain,heading
toAlameda,theruralvillaofthedukeandduchessofOsuna,
wherehewastodeliversevenpaintingshehaddonefortheir
drawing room. The works included popular rural subjects,
such as a village procession, with its aqua overtones and
Clouds of Revolution
75
In 1788, Goya painted St. Francis of Borgia and the Impenitent Dying Man
to decorate a chapel in Valencia Cathedral. The appearance of the demonic
forms hovering near the pain-wracked sufferer hints at many of the
“darker” elements that were to appear in Goya’s later work.
quick brushstrokes signaling the impressionism of the next
century, and a coach under attack, featuring guns, swords,
knives, and a bleeding victim. Goya also rendered favorite
scenesfoundinbedroomsacrosseighteenth-centuryEurope,
such as The Swing and The Fall from a Donkey. One of the
lightestoftheseworkswas The Greased Pole,whichaccord-
ingtoGoya’sownnotes,depicted“amaypoleonthevillage
greenwithboysclimbingupittowintheprize,consistingof
chickensandcakesintheformofcrownshungonthetopof
thepole.”67
76
FRANCISCO GOyA
aN artist iN DemaND
The work was piling up for the Aragonese artist, and Goya
was receiving further commissions from King Carlos III.
Therewerelife-sizerenderingsofthreesaintsfortheConvent
of Santa Ana in Valladolid, north of Madrid. The following
year,1788,broughtevengreatercommissions,includingtwo
worksorderedbythedukeandduchessofOsuna(theformer
marquis and marquise de Penafiel). The two paintings were
to depict an ancestor of the duke and duchess, St. Francis
ofBorgia,andtheworkswereintendedtodecorateachapel
in Valencia Cathedral. The couple paid Goya handsomely,
30,000 reales for each painting. Of the two paintings, St.
Francis of Borgia and his Familyand St. Francis of Borgia and
the Impenitent Dying Man,thelatteristhemostimportant.In
thework,thesaintlyFrancisawaitsatthedeathbedofadying
man. It was not an uncommon scene in the European art
worldoftheeighteenthcentury,butGoya’sworkisdifferent.
Atrioofmacabredemonsattendthedyingman,shroudedin
areddishglowthatmockstheauraofahaloaroundthesaint’s
head.Theyaremorethanmenacing,withtheirdemonwings,
barredfangs,andeerie,glowingeyes.Accordingtothestory
onwhichthepaintingwasbased,thedemonswintheconflict
between the man of God and the Prince of Darkness. What
is telling about the picture is that it represents the first time
Goyaincludesinhisworksuchdemonicfigures.Itwouldbe
an image he would return to repeatedly in later years in his
“black”paintings.
By this time, Goya had already passed into his early for-
ties and he once wrote how he “had grown old with lots of
wrinkles.”68Yethewassoonatworkonapaintingthatwould
becomeoneofhisstandardmasterpieces.InalettertoZapater
inspring1788,hewritesofacommissionfortheprinceand
princessofAsturias,whoresidedintheElPardoPalace.The
paintingwasfortheirbedroom,andGoyawasnervousabout
it,sinceheknew“thekingistoseeit.”69 Theartistconsidered
thesubjecthehadbeenassignedtobeadifficultone.Hewas
Clouds of Revolution
77
topaint“themeadowofStIsidoreonthatSaint’sday,withall
theactivitythatgenerallyaccompaniesitinthiscourt.”70
a VieW OF maDriD
Untilaboutagenerationago, The Meadow of St. Isidore (also
knownasthe Festival of San Isidro)wasconsideredalaterwork
ofGoya’s,thoughttohavebeendoneattheendofthe1790s.
YetthatdatingwasbasedonthestyleGoyausedincreating
hiswork.Unfortunately,Goyamovedbackandforthinstyles
attimes,makingsomedatingestimatesdifficult.Thecartoon
Goya produced for the planned painting was immense, the
largest cartoon he ever produced, measuring nearly 25 feet
(7.6m)inlength.
Haditeverbeenpaintedatitsfullsize,theviewerwould
havebeenbowledoverbyitsscope.Thescenewaspanoramic,
with the meadow on the opposite bank of the Manzanares
RiverfromMadrid,wherehundredsofcelebrantsaregathered,
spreadoutacrossthegiantcanvas,alongsidetheirvariouscar-
riagesandpicniccanopies.Inthepainting’sforeground,upon
thegentlyslopingridgeabovethemeadow,aredozensofwell-
dressed aristocrats. The men wear knee pants and tricorner
hats,whiletheyoungladiesareintheirspringdresses,holding
daintyparasolsthatshieldthemfromthemutedspringlight.
Inthebackground,acrosstheriver,isthecapitalitself,ashim-
meringcityofwhite,dominatedbypalacesandchurches.
Goyapouredhimselfintotheproject,admittinginaletter
toZapaterthat“Ineithersleep,noramcalm,untilfinishing
it.”71Althoughthelargecanvaswasneverpainted,Goyadid
complete a smaller version of his composition, measuring
18 inches (45.7 centimeters) in height and approximately 3
feet (.91m) in length. This smaller work is a stunning piece,
paintedwithalimitedandmutedpalate,everythingdonewith
obviousandimpressionisticbrushstrokes.Itisawonderfully
balancedandenticingpainting.Arthistorianscanonlywon-
derifthesimplicityoftheelementswouldhavebeentranslated
into something quite different had the larger painting been
78
FRANCISCO GOyA
produced.Yetitwasnotpaintedforonereason:onDecember
14, 1788, King Carlos III died, and the Pardo Palace would
ceasetobethehomeofthenewmonarch.
a NeW mONarCH
Asthefutureofthe Meadow of St. Isidore waschangedbythe
death of Carlos III, Goya’s future also changed. The prince
and princess of Asturias, now King Carlos IV and Queen
MariaLuisa,wouldsubsequentlyrisetotheSpanishthrone.
Withinfivemonths,inApril1789,CarlosIVappointedGoya
to the rank of Pintor de Camara, Court Painter, a position
tHe LittLe BOY iN reD
Goya is often remembered for his portraits of royal officials
and important aristocrats and their families. In fact, Goya was
