Francisco Goya

Francisco Goya

"Saturn Devouring One Of His Children"

Detached Fresco mounted on canvas

4' 9 1/8" x 2' 8 5/8"

1819, 1823 

Biography:

Francisco Goya was born March 30, 1746. He was a Spanish romantic painter. Spain's main national film awards are called the "Goya Awards," in honor of him. He was trained in painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. He was the court painter for Charles IV and received a salary form working for him. He gained an illness that left him deaf, this changed how he thought and looked at things in his life. He became less social. He died in France from his declining health issues at age 82, on April 16, 1828.

Artist's Statement:

"Goya's work rooted in both personal and natural history, and presented very dark images while still keeping the romanticism." 

(Fred S. Kleiner, 2010, P.620) 

Background Information:

This fresco was painted on the walls of Francisco's Farmhouse and showed viewers an honest look into what was going on in his mind at the time. He wasn't in the clearest state of mind because of his declining health. In "Gardener's Art Throughout The Ages," it says, "Because of the similarities of Kronos and Khronos, (meaning time) Saturn has come to be associated with time. This has led some scholars to interpret Goya's painting as an expression of the artist's despair over the passage of time."(Fred S. Kleiner, 2010, P.620) These photo's were supposed to private, not for the public's view, so it really gives you a scary realistic of what most of been going on in his mind at that time. 

Connection:

I choose this piece because it's realistic and graphic and even in its simplicity still makes you think. It shows great suffering and despair, resulting in death. I think he knew a lot about death and the feeling of death coming for him, because in his case of his declining health. Fear can evoke such strong emotions, this painting is very disturbing to me but I feel it expresses raw and unfiltered emotion.