Francisco de Goya

Self-Portrait (Autorretrato)

Self-Portrait (Autorretrato)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1815
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
46 x 35 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
14 Apr 2010 / 16 Jun 2023
Inventario
(P00723)
Inscripciones

Fr. Goya / Aragones / Por el mismo / 1815 ("Francisco Goya, Aragonese, By himself, 1815", on the left-hand side, at the height of the neck, incised into the paint).

Historia

It is not known whether Goya made this self-portrait for himself or for someone in his close circle of family and friends, or whether it was actually a commissioned work. It used to be thought that this work was a copy of the self-portrait at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, signed and dated 1815. After the work was recently cleaned, however, it was discovered that this painting also had an inscription, according it a certain official status. The fact that two such similar works exist, both of them signed and dated, and considering that the academy work was delivered by Javier Goya following his father's death, suggests that perhaps this work was also meant for one of the fine arts academies of which Goya was a member, such as those of Valencia or Zaragoza, but never reached its destination.

Brugada's inventory of Goya's assets, completed after the artist's death, includes two bust portraits of the painter. It seems that one of them corresponds to the academy one, and so perhaps the other corresponds to this work. It belonged to Javier Goya, who sold it to Román Garreta or Román de la Huerta. The correct identification of the buyer is complicated by the fact that different documents list his name in different ways. We know that in 1866, by a Royal Order dated 5 April, the Museum of La Trinidad paid the owner the sum of four hundred escudos for the portrait. In 1872, with the merging of the Museum of La Trinidad and the Royal Museum, the work became the property of the National Painting and Sculpture Museum, now the Prado Museum.

Análisis artístico

Of all the known self-portraits of Goya, this one, together with the version in the Academy of San Fernando, is one of the most sincere and direct. It is a bust portrait depicting the painter at the age of sixty-nine, in front of a dark, brown-hued background, where the marks of the swirling brushstrokes are clearly visible. Goya has painted himself wrapped in a gown, similar to the one his disciple, Asensio Julià, wears in his portrait, and from beneath which the white shirt, with its clearly repainted collar, pokes out. All of the portrait's intensity is concentrated on the facial features, with little attention paid to the clothing or background. The artist's head is turned slightly to the left. His face, framed by the wayward and now greying hair which leaves his forehead uncovered, is looking almost straight out at the viewer. He looks tired, sickly and somewhat nostalgic. Despite this, his gaze transmits the determination and fortitude of someone who has overcome many different obstacles in the course of his long life, and he appears calm and even proud and dignified. The main difference between this self-portrait and its companion piece in the Academy of San Fernando is the artist's posture and mood.

Exposiciones
  • Goya
    Palacio de Pedralbes
    Barcelona
    1977
    from April 12th to June 30th 1977
  • Obras maestras de la pintura española de los siglos XVI al XIX
    Museo Pushkin
    Moscow
    1980
    Exhibited also at the State Hermitage Museum, San Petersburgo
  • Las obras grabadas más importantes de Francisco de Goya
    Palacio de Iturbide
    Mexico D.F.
    1980
    organized by the Banco Nacional de México
  • Von Greco bis Goya
    Haus der Kunst
    Munich
    1982
    From February 20th to April 25th 1982. Exhibited also at the Künstlerhaus, Viena
  • Du Greco á Goya: chefs-d’œuvre du Musée du Prado et des collections espagnoles
    Geneva
    1989
    Musée d’Art et D’Histoire
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Francisco de Goya: Maleri, Tegning, Grafikk
    Nasjonalgalleriet
    Oslo
    1996
    from 10th to April 14th 1996
  • Artistas pintados. Retratos de pintores y escultores del siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado
    Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
    Madrid
    1997
    consultant editor José Luis Díez
  • Goya: Prophet der Moderne
    Alte Nationalgalerie
    Berlin
    2005
    from July 13th to October 3th 2005. Exhibitied also at the Kunsthistorischemuseum, Vienna, October 18th 2005 to January 8th 2006, consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués
  • Goya en tiempos de guerra
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2008
    consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués, from April 14th to July 13th 2008
  • Goya y el Mundo Moderno
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    2008
    organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragón at the Museo de Zaragoza, consultant editors Valeriano Bozal and Concepción Lomba Serrano. From December 18th 2008 to March 22nd 2009
  • Goya e il Mondo Moderno
    Palazzo Reale
    Milan
    2010
    organized by SEACEX, Palazzo Reale and Fundación Goya en Aragón, consultant editors Valeriano Bozal and Concepción Lomba Serrano. From March 17th to June 27th 2010
  • Goya luces y sombras
    CaixaForum
    Barcelona
    2012
    consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012
  • Goya: Order and disorder
    Museum of Fine Arts
    Boston
    2014
  • Goya: The Portraits
    London
    2015
  • Goya
    Basle
    2021
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    París
    1928-1950
    vol. II, p. 211, cat. 500
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    pp. 298, 377, cat. 1552
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 363, cat. 638
  • ANGELIS, Rita de
    L’opera pittorica completa di Goya
    MilanRizzoli
    1974
    p. 129, cat. 585
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. IV, p. 34
  • LUNA, Juan J. (Comisario)
    Goya. 250 Aniversario
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1996
    p. 416, cat. 147 y p. 247 (il.)
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B.
    Goya en tiempos de guerra
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2008
    p. 442, cat. 160 y p. 443 (il.)
Ficha en SAAC

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