Francisco de Goya

Magpie on a Tree Branch (Marica en la rama de un árbol)

Magpie on a Tree Branch (Marica en la rama de un árbol)
Datos Generales
Cronología
1786
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
279 x 28 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Attributed work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
16 Dec 2009 / 14 Jun 2023
Inventario
(P07346)
Otros títulos:
Magpie in a Tree (La marica en un árbol)
Historia

See The Flower Girls.

This cartoon appears in the inventory that Vicente López carried out in 1834, where it was attributed to José del Castillo, but it is not in the list of works presented by this artist nor does it feature in his invoices from the tapestry factory.

Around 1856 or 1857, the cartoon was moved from the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Bárbara to the Palacio de Oriente in Madrid, and it remained in the tapestry basements until, under orders given on 18 January and 9 February 1870, it was taken to the Prado Museum that same year. Lost in the museum collection ever since, it was finally discovered in 1987.

Análisis artístico

Some birds rest on the branches of a tree. They can be clearly identified as a magpie and a male finch, the latter thanks to its reddish colouring.

Sambricio attributed the work to Goya because the dimensions were identical to those of the seventh stretcher in the records of the carpenter, Josef Serrano, and because the cartoon did not appear in any of the invoices from the other painters who worked with the tapestry factory, meaning that it had to be by either Ramón Bayeu or Francisco de Goya, since they were the only artists not to issue bills for their own works. Arnaiz goes further and draws parallels between this cartoon and that of Boy and a Tree, made to decorate the antechamber to the bedroom of the Prince and Princess in the palace of El Pardo. In both cartoons, the birds are similar, as well as the trees, the leaves in the foreground and the stream, motifs that can be found in other documented works by Goya.

However, Tomlinson expresses her doubts about the Goya's authorship, although she admits that it cannot be ruled out entirely.

Conservación

The work underwent restoration at the Prado Museum in 1987.

Exposiciones
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2014
Bibliografía
  • SAMBRICIO, Valentín de
    Tapices de Goya
    MadridPatrimonio Nacional
    1946
    p. 263, cat. 52
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 270, cat. 232
  • ÁGUEDA VILLAR, Mercedes
    Novedades en torno a una serie de cartones de Goya
    Boletín del Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1984
    pp. 41-46
  • ARNAIZ, José Manuel
    Francisco de Goya, cartones y tapices
    col. col. "Espasa Arte"
    Espasa Calpe
    1987
    pp. 149-152, 301, cat. 56C
  • TOMLINSON, Janis A.
    Francisco de Goya. Los cartones para tapices y los comienzos de su carrera en la corte de Madrid
    col. col. "Ensayos de Arte Cátedra"
    MadridCátedra
    1987
    pp. 205-206
  • LUNA, Juan J. (Comisario)
    Goya. 250 Aniversario
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1996
    p. 326, cat. 47 y p. 125 (il.)
  • SANCHO, José Luis
    Salas del Palacio Real de El Pardo para las que se tejieron tapices sobre cartones de Francisco de Goya: identificación de las habitaciones y ajuste de las obras de Goya en los alzados de las paredes
    in HERRERO CARRETERO, Concha (curator, Tapices y cartones de Goya (catalogue of the exhibition organizated at the Palacio Real de Madrid, from may to june 1996)
    MadridPatrimonio Nacional, Goya 96, Lunwerg
    1996
    p. 165 (il.)
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B. y MAURER, Gudrun (comisarias)
    Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2014
    p. 300
Enlaces externos
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