Art Guide · Painters
Francisco Goya
1746–1828
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) was the Spanish master whose career ran from court painter to unflinching witness of war. With The Third of May 1808 and the Black Paintings he is seen as a forerunner of modern art.
Last updated: · Iconica Society editors
Life
Born in the village of Fuendetodos in Aragon, he designed tapestry cartoons for the royal factory in Madrid and in 1799 became first court painter to Charles IV. After a serious illness in 1792–93 he went completely deaf.
He recorded the brutality of Napoleon’s invasion of Spain and the war that followed in paintings and prints. In old age he covered the walls of his house near Madrid with the sombre “Black Paintings”. Political pressure drove him to France, and he died in Bordeaux in 1828.
Style and key works
The Third of May 1808 (1814, Prado) shows French soldiers executing the people of Madrid; the man in the white shirt, arms flung wide in the light, changed the course of war painting. His print series Los Caprichos (1799) and The Disasters of War criticise society and violence with unsparing honesty.
Key works
Shop Francisco Goya posters →Frequently asked questions
What are Goya’s Black Paintings?
Fourteen dark, nightmarish paintings Goya made on the walls of his house near Madrid between 1819 and 1823; they are now in the Prado.
What does The Third of May 1808 depict?
Napoleon’s soldiers executing Spanish civilians the day after the uprising in Madrid on 2 May 1808.