Francisco de Goya

Saint Francis Borgia Saying Goodbye to his Family (San Francisco de Borja despidiéndose de su familia) (sketch)

Saint Francis Borgia Saying Goodbye to his Family (San Francisco de Borja despidiéndose de su familia) (sketch)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1788
Ubicación
Private collection
Dimensiones
38 x 29,3 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Titular
Private collection
Ficha: realización/revisión
20 Jan 2010 / 28 Jun 2023
Inventario
-
Historia

This is the sketch for the painting located on the left-hand side of the chapel of Saint Francis Borgia in Valencia Cathedral.

It belonged to the collection of Mr. Francisco Acebal y Arratia and later passed to the Marchioness of Santa Cruz in Madrid. The sketch remained there until it was acquired by its current owner. Its history has always been linked to that of its companion sketch for Saint Francis Assisting a Dying Man.

Análisis artístico

This sketch shows almost no variations in relation to the definitive work, and has the same number of figures, the only difference being that one of the saint's daughters is replaced by a gentleman. The composition also follows the same schematic lines: the weight of the horizontal frieze is offset by the pyramidal point which is created by the saint and his heir.

The differences to be found lie in painting technique and some fine details. The brushwork is looser in this cartoon, with many light white touches which illuminate the figures' clothing. He has not skimped on the emotional intensity of the scene in this sketch: indeed, the feeling captured in this version is moderated slightly in the definitive painting, which has more monumental proportions.

The balustrade on which the child is leaning has been elevated to reduce any abruptness in the perspective, while in the background architecture the arches, ionic columns, and entablature have been substituted with a single arch whose outer curve is bordered by a wide band featuring horsemen sculpted in relief.

Some copies have come to light, such as that published by Morales in Goya pintor religioso (1990, pp. 198-199, cat. A79).

Conservación

It was lined in an old restoration.

Exposiciones
  • Pinturas de Goya
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1928
    consultant editor Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor. From Apri to -May 1928
  • Goya and his times
    The Royal Academy of Arts
    London
    1963
    cat. 66
  • El arte europeo en la corte de España durante el siglo XVIII
    Galerie des Beaux-Arts
    Burdeos
    1979
    Exhibitied also at Grand Palais, París y Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
  • Goya en las colecciones madrileñas
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1983
    consultant editor Enrique Lafuente Ferrari. From April 19th to June 20th 1983
  • Goya. El Capricho y la Invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturas
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1993
    from 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-Bareau
  • Goya y Maella en Valencia. Del boceto al cuadro de altar
    Catedral y Museo de Bellas Artes
    Valencia
    2002
    organized by Subsecretaría de Promoción Cultural de la Generalitat Valenciana, Consorcio de Museos de la Comunitad Valenciana, Arzobispado de Valencia and Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, consultant editor Benito Navarrete Prieto. From March to May 2002
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    París
    1928-1950
    p. 126, cat. 81
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 96, cat. 241
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 275, cat. 257
  • ANGELIS, Rita de
    L’opera pittorica completa di Goya
    MilanRizzoli
    1974
    p. 103, cat. 225
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. II, p. 62 y p. 171 (il.)
  • MENA, Manuela B. y WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet (comisarias)
    Goya. El capricho y la invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturas
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1993
    pp. 146-151, 351, 352, cat. 16 y p. 148
  • NAVARRETE PRIETO, Benito (comisario)
    Goya y Maella en Valencia. Del boceto al cuadro de altar
    ValenciaGeneralitat Valenciana
    2002
    pp. 94-96, cat. 7
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