Goya - Portrait of Joaquina Téllez-Girón y Pimentel, Marchioness of Santa Cruz [1805]

Goya - Portrait of Joaquina Téllez-Girón y Pimentel, Marchioness of Santa Cruz [1805], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The marchioness is shown clad in a very light white dress, lying sideways on a red divan. Her head is decorated with yellow flowers; her left hand is balancing a lyre. Her gaze does not directly fix on the viewer but seems to look distant. Her body does not seem to sit in a natural position, but seemingly floats on the red divan and the pillows. The theme seems almost allegorical, a reference to the ancient Greek theatre. The Prado has exhibited this painting since 1986, after having paid over $6 million to the previous owners.

[Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid - Oil on canvas, 124.7 x 207.7 cm]

Goya - The Parasol [1777]

Goya - The Parasol [1777], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

[Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid - Oil on canvas, 104 x 152 cm]

Goya - The Clothed Maja [1807-08]

Goya - The Clothed Maja [1807-08], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

An unidentified lady wearing delicate transparent clothing and a yellow jacket with black decorations lies on a green velvet divan with cushions and a spread. There has been a great variety of opinions as to who the sitter is, but her anonymity is maintained in all of the inventories listing this work. Legend would have it that she was the Duchess of Alba, although she has also been identified as Pepita Tudó, Godoy's mistress from 1797 onwards. 

This painting is first mentioned in 1808 along with its companion, The Nude Maja, in the inventory of the property of Manuel Godoy carried out by Frédéric Quillet, an agent of José Bonaparte. In 1813, the two Majas are described as Gypsies in the inventory of Godoy's properties confiscated by King Fernando VII. The present work is more summarily painted than the nude work, which has more subtle transparencies and tonal gradations, as well as some differences in the position of the figure. 

This work entered the Prado Museum in 1901 by way of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, where it had been from 1808 to 1813, and again from 1836 to 1901. In the hiatus between those two periods, it was sequestered by the Inquisition.

[Museo Nacional del Prado - Oil on canvas, 95 x 190 cm]

Goya - The Nude Maja [1797-1800]

Goya - The Nude Maja [1797-1800], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

An image of Venus in the nude, lying on a green velvet divan with pillows and a spread. It is listed for the first time in 1800 as hanging over a door in Manuel Godoy's palace, but without its companion, The Clothed Maja. In 1808 it is mentioned again, along with The Clothed Maja, in the inventory which Frédéric Quillet, José Bonaparte's agent, made of the property of Manuel Godoy, who may have commissioned it. Then, in 1813, the two ladies are described as Gypsies in the inventory of Godoy's property confiscated by King Fernando VII. 

[Museo Nacional del Prado - Oil on canvas, 98 x 191 cm]

Goya - The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid - [1814]

Goya - The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid - [1814], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

The painting's content, presentation, and emotional force secure its status as a groundbreaking, archetypal image of the horrors of war. Although it draws on many sources from both high and popular art, The Third of May 1808 marks a clear break from convention. Diverging from the traditions of Christian art and traditional depictions of war, it has no distinct precedent, and is acknowledged as one of the first paintings of the modern era. According to the art historian Kenneth Clark, The Third of May 1808 is "the first great picture which can be called revolutionary in every sense of the word, in style, in subject, and in intention"

[Oil on canvas, 268 x 347 cm]