- Cronología
- 1781
- Ubicación
- atiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno Fundation, Madrid, Spain
- Dimensiones
- 62 x 31 cm
- Técnica y soporte
- Oil on canvas
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Documented work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 12 Jan 2010 / 13 Jun 2023
We know of the existence of two small sketches and another larger one for the altar painting for the Royal Basilica of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid which Goya dedicated to Saint Bernardine of Siena. It is very likely that this version is the small sketch which Goya mentioned in a letter sent on 22 September 1781 to Count Floridablanca informing him of the subject he had chosen for the work. It is also possible that it is the version sent by Goya to Martín Zapater which he mentions in his correspondence with his friend.
It is followed by another sketch of almost exactly the same dimensions whose execution is rather more polished. Both were found to be in the possession of the Marquis of la Torrecilla in Madrid in 1867, and they later passed to the Count of Villagonzalo, also in Madrid. These works have only been on display to the public twice: in Madrid in 1900, and London in 1920. Now is part of the Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno Foundation.
The surviving sketches allow us to study the evolution of Goya's ideas for the composition. We can see that in this sketch the characteristics of the figures were not yet fully defined, although the compositional idea and the inclusion of the star which rests on the head of the saint had already been established. The essential elements of the composition are represented by means of an intense yet simple chiaroscuro. It is reminiscent of Michel-Ange Houasse's Preaching of Saint Francis Regis (Prado Museum, Madrid), to which Goya had access.
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Goya 1900Ministerio de Instrucción Pública and Bellas ArtesMadrid1900consultant editors Aureliano de Beruete, Alejandro Ferrant, Marqués de Pidal and Ricardo Velázquez. May 1900cat. 53: Marqués de la Torrecilla
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Spanish paintingsThe Royal Academy of ArtsLondon1920cat. 107: Marqués de la Torrecilla
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Goya. El Capricho y la Invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturasMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1993from November 18th 1993 to February 15th 1994. Exhibited also at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, March 18th to June 12th 1994 and The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, July 16th to October 16th 1994, consultant editors Manuela B. Mena Marqués and Juliet Wilson-Bareaucat. 11 (catalogado pero no expuesto)
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Madrid2022
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L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 volsParís1928-1950p. 114, cat. 63
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970pp. 77, 93, cat. 187
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BarcelonaPolígrafa1970vol. I, p. 255, cat. 135
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L’opera pittorica completa di GoyaMilanRizzoli1974p. 97, cat. 120
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Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja1980-1982vol. I, pp. 165, 166 y p. 283 (il.)
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Goya. El capricho y la invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturasMadridMuseo del Prado1993pp. 134-136, 347, 348, cat. 11 y p. 135
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San Bernardino de Siena de Goya. Sketches of the Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno FoundationMadridMuseo Nacional del Prado2022
