Francisco de Goya

Sacrifice to Pan (Sacrificio a Pan)

Sacrifice to Pan (Sacrificio a Pan)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1771
Ubicación
Private collection, Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Dimensiones
33 x 24 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Attributed work
Titular
Private collection
Ficha: realización/revisión
16 Feb 2010 / 13 Jun 2023
Otros títulos:
Sacrifice to Priapus (Sacrificio a Príapo)
Historia

This work was produced during Goya's stay in Italy. José Milicua published the work for the first time together with its possible companion painting, Sacrifice to Vesta in 1954.

In 1913 it was auctioned in Paris as part of the Eugène Kramer collection, lot number 106, and was bought by Maurice Boilloux Lafont. In 1953 it was acquired by a Swiss private collector. Later it belonged to the collection of José Gudiol, and then to his heirs until it was later acquired by its current owner.

Análisis artístico

The scene is set in a forest, where we can see a priestess proffering a golden bowl to the statue of Pan, god of fertility and masculine sexuality. At the foot of the sculpture there is an altar upon which there are other recipients used in the libation rite. A young woman who is bending down with her back to us is handling the pitcher of wine.

It has also been argued that the painting might also represent the minor god Priapus, since Pan was usually portrayed with goat's feet, arms and hands. Here we have a herma, which was commonly used to represent Priapus, the god of fertility of the land.

There are some doubts as to the authenticity of this painting, which is traditionally paired with Sacrifice to Vesta. While the works shared a common provenance until recent times, and their mythological character and Roman details link them, it is also true that the canvas seems to have been deliberately stretched to make it the same size as its supposed companion work. Moreover, there is a second version of this work (known to have been in a Parisian private collection in the 1970s) which seems not to have been painted by Goya, in which the god appears to have been considerably altered, adding some elements associated with Pan.

If this work is indeed by Goya, then it would doubtless have been painted - as experts agree - during his stay in Rome, as one of the quickly executed paintings which the artist produced to pay for his upkeep.

For more information on this kind of work, see Sacrifice to Vesta.

Exposiciones
  • Goya and his times
    The Royal Academy of Arts
    London
    1963
    cat. 66
  • El arte de Goya
    Museo de Arte Occidental de Tokio
    Tokyo
    1971
    from 16th 1971 to January 23th 1972. Exhibited also at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, January 29th to March 15th 1972.
  • Goya joven (1746-1776) y su entorno
    Museo e Instituto Camón Aznar
    Zaragoza
    1986
    consultant editorl José Rogelio Buendía. November 21st to December 20th 1986
  • Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1988
    from October 6th to December 18th 1988. Exhibited also at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 18th to March 26th 1989; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, May 9th to July 16th 1989, Madrid curator Manuela B. Mena Marqués, scientific directors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Eleanor A. Sayre
  • Goya e Italia
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    2008
    organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragóna, consultant editor Joan Sureda Pons. From June 1st to September 15th 2008
  • Zaragoza
    2021
Bibliografía
  • MILICUA, José
    “Anotaciones al Goya joven”
    Paragone
    1954
    pp. 19-21
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 82, cat. 23
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 237, cat. 15
  • ANGELIS, Rita de
    L’opera pittorica completa di Goya
    MilanRizzoli
    1974
    p.89, cat. 17
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. I, p. 51 y p. 32 (il.)
  • SUREDA PONS, Joan (comisario)
    Goya e Italia, 2 vols.
    ZaragozaFundación Goya en Aragón y Turner
    2008
    vol. II, p. 238, cat. 148
  • GALLEGO GARCÍA, Raquel (comisaria)
    Goya. Traveler and artist of the Grand Tour (exp. cat.)
    ZaragozaGobierno de Aragón
    2021
    pp. 126-127
Enlaces externos
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