Artist to Nobility
1783-1791
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At the Spanish Court
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On September 21, 1789, Madrid embarked on a sumptuous festival.
Streets and houses were decorated, and the aristocracy had triumphal
arches and sets built in front of their palaces. For three days and
nights, the people and the aristocracy celebrated the accession of
Charles IV and his wife Maria Luisa.
Under Charles IV Goya was to achieve the highest honors. However,
the new regime was to bring decline and chaos to Spain. Politics
turned not on the well-being of the country, but on the changing
moods of the king, for whom expediency was a principle of
government. Little influence was felt in Spain from the turbulence
of the French Revolution, during which the populace went to the
barricades against their king.
Charles III, who had died during the previous autumn, had been an
enlightened monarch who had tried to modernize his country. The
Bourbon king had ascended the throne in 1759, when Goya was 13 years
old. He had had street-lights and drains installed in the dirty,
dark quarters of Madrid. The classical buildings he built still
edify Madrid, even today. Science and art, trade and crafts all
experienced an upsurge through his reforms.
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Francisco de Goya
Charles III in Hunting Costume
1786-88
Oil on canvas, 210 x 127 cm
Del Arco Collection, Madrid
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of Queen Maria Luisa
1789
Oil on canvas
152x110cm
Madrid, Museo Lazaro
Galdiano
During the festivities for the coronation, Goya painted Maria Luisa
wearing a sumptuous dress and an exuberant feather hat in the French
style. Contemporaries and historians do not give a favorable account
of the queen: she was known for her vanity, her political
intrigues, and for love affairs with young men.
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At the time Spain was widely seen to be the most backward country in
Europe, held back by the weight of unbending tradition and the
jealously guarded power of the Church. Nevertheless, Spain still had
an empire on which the sun never set, and its colonies were wealthy.
Life at the Spanish court had been strictly regulated since the 16th
century. Year in and year out, the royal family spent the winter at
the city palace in Madrid; they moved in January to the hunting
lodge at El Pardo, stayed till Easter at the Aranjuez residence,
spent the summer at La Granja, and in autumn went to the enormous,
dark monastery and palace complex of the Escorial, where the tombs
of the Spanish kings were also to be found. As a tapestry designer,
Goya had been one of the "royal painters" to Charles III. But his
real court career started when Charles IV ascended the throne. The
new royal couple were already ordering an official royal portrait
from him as preparations were being made for the coronation. In the
same year, 1789, Goya rose to be Pintor de Camara, Royal Court
Painter. Ten years later he was to become the king's First Court
Painter.
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of Charles IV
1789
Oil on canvas
220 x 140 cm
Madrid, Academia de
Historia
Charles IV was 40 years old when he ascended the Spanish throne in
1789. He was known as a passionate huntsman, strong and healthy -and
not very intelligent. He left the affairs of state mainly to his
lively wife Maria Luisa, who was conscious of their power.
In the area of the fine arts, his principal contribution was the
maintenance and documentation of the royal collections. However, he
also supported many painters through the appointment of court
painters, whose main task was to decorate his palaces and paint
portraits. The official portrait of Charles IV was executed on the
occasion of his coronation. Goya painted several very similar
portraits of the king with the help of assistants.
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of Charles IV
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of Charles IV
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of Charles IV
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of Charles IV
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Paintings by Francisco de Goya
1783 - 1791
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Francisco de Goya
Portrait of the Wife of Juan Agustín Cean Bermudez
c. 1785
Oil on canvas, 121 x 84,5 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
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Francisco de Goya
Marqueza Pontejos
c. 1786
Oil on canvas, 212 x 126 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
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Francisco de Goya
The Fall (La Caída)
1786-87
Oil on canvas, 169 x 100 cm
Private collection
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Francisco de Goya
Picnic
1788
Oil on canvas, 41x 26 cm
National Gallery, London
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Francisco de Goya
Blind Man's Buff
1788-89
Oil on canvas, 269 x 350 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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