This cartoon for a tapestry to be placed over a door or window shows a street vendor, a subject based on the popular and very widely distributed etchings by the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci (1560-1609). This work of extraordinary refinement is notable especially for the boy`s noble pose, a masterly rendition by the artist of the attempts by enlightened reformers to revitalise and dignify man
Cartoon for a tapestry in the Ambassadors’ Hall at El Escorial, painted after a sketch by Francisco Bayeu. The seller of ham and sausage, accompanied in the distance by a water seller, is an eighteenth-century Spanish reflection, with the popular costumes of the period, of the tradition of compositions on street vendors that was established in Italy in the early seventeenth century.
The effect of the majo’s singing and playing is evident in the profound emotion on the face of the woman in the foreground, reflecting the refined sentimentality to which art of this period aspired. This canvas is a close copy of a preparatory sketch by Francisco Bayeu, Ramón’s brother, which was subsequently included in the work Thirteen Preparatory Designs for Cartoons for Tapestries, als
A cartoon for the tapestry to be hung in the Prince of Asturias´s quarters at the El Pardo Palace. Two Majos appear at the center of the composition, playing characteristic 18th-century Spanish narrow-wasted popular guitars with five double strings (as indicated by their ten visible tuning pegs). Baroque guitars had five double strings, but around 1760 another pair was added, although both t
Scenes of street vendors proliferated in eighteenth-century Spain, as they had in France, England and Italy, both because of the picturesque nature of their street cries and their apparel, and because they were regarded from then on as a true reflection of national identity. Here, however, Bayeu gives his carnation seller a curiously melancholy air, hitherto unexplained.
This realistic depiction of a kite that has swooped down on a group of dead woodcocks and a pheasant is striking for the contrast between the bird of prey’s ferocity and the tranquil still-life with game birds set in a flat background landscape. This effect of surprise, typical of a capriccio, was popular at this period.
Painted for a tapestry intended for the Infante’s bedroom at the El Pardo Palace, this cartoon by Castillo is exceptionally large. Based on a sketch at the Museo del Prado (P07723), it presents the same subject as a later work (P00750) by Goya (1788): the area around the hermitage of Madrid’s patron saint near the banks of the Manzanares River on the feast day of May 15. Numerous groups of majos a
It is a tapestry cartoon intended for the ‘silverware room in the king’s apartment’ within El Pardo Palace. It depicts the unloading of a war ammunition convoy accompanied by soldiers. In this painting, the artist imitated the style of Philips Wouwerman.
It is a tapestry cartoon intended for the ‘silverware room in the king’s apartment’ within El Pardo Palace. It depicts the march of a vast army towards a fortress in the background, directed by a noble captain on a white horse and accompanied by his wife and son. In this painting, the artist imitated the style of Philips Wouwerman.
A group of individuals appear in front of the stall of a seller who displays his vessels, furniture, used clothing and paintings. Others people visit the other stalls around the Plaza de la Cebada, where all sorts of objects, including paintings, were sold. The background offers a view of the imposing Church of San Francisco el Grande. Goya presents certain types and customs of Madrid´s society, s
This is a hunting stand with two caged birds as decoys, a crouching dog, and a net on the tree that frames the group. The study of the birds and dog, as well as the bush in the foreground, reveal Goya´s interest in flora and fauna, which he paints with precision. The mitte owl, a nocturnal bird, is quite similar to the owl Goya used in his drawings and etchings as a personification of evil f
A boy steps on another's back as he attempts to climb a tree and pick its fruit, while two others watch expectantly, hoping to receive some. This is one of Goya's cartoons for the tapestries intended to hang in the dining room of the Prince and Princess of Asturias (the future Carlos IV and his wife Maria Luisa de Parma) at El Escorial. Goya knew the world of children and repeated similar subjects