On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P00793
- Author
- Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de (Spanish)
- Title
- The Flower Girls, or Spring
- Chronology
- 1786-1787
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 277 cm x 192 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- INVENTARIO TAPICES
- Procedence
- Real Patrimonio, 1870
A young woman holding a girl by the
hand receives a rose from another
who kneels down to appreciate some
flowers. A male figure behind them
attempts to surprise the first
woman with a baby rabbit he holds
in his hand. The background of
mountains visible behind them is
very frequent in Goya's genre
scenes.
For this allegory of spring, the
painter eschews the customary
representations of the goddess,
Flora, used by many earlier
painters. Instead, he combines real
figures with that season's
traditional attributes, such as
flowers and hares.
The elegant posture of the young
woman kneeling in the foreground
echoes Las Meninas (P1174) by
Velasquez, whose influence is
present in Goya's work.
This is one of the cartoons for
tapestries intended for the Prince
of Asturias' dining room at the El
Pardo Palace.
Location on the map
