On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P00723
- Author
- Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de (Spanish)
- Title
- Self-Portrait
- Chronology
- 1815
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 45,8 cm x 35,6 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COMPRA
- Procedence
- Acquisition, 1872
Goya deliberately presents himself
here as vulnerable and fragile,
revealing the most serene and
welcoming facet of his personality.
A dark background painted with
rapid, energetic crossing
brushstrokes adds presence to his
reddish-brown frock coat, which
contrasts with his very white,
open-necked shirt, both of which
are painted with finer brushstrokes
than the background. This
technique, in the Venetian manner,
accentuates the soft, rosy and
somewhat flaccid skin of Goya on
the threshold of old age. The
elaborate material, of exceptional
richness, brings out the luminosity
of his face, which needs very
little light to stand out in the
almost Velasquez-like “atmosphere”
surrounding him. This self-portrait
is very different than that of the
artist before his easel (P775).
Here, he no longer looks at a
mirror, directing his gaze,
instead, at the viewer.
It is signed and dated on the
background to the left, incised in
the paint, perhaps with the tip of
the brush handle.
Location on the map
