- 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
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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.
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).
It was lined in an old restoration.
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Pinturas de GoyaMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1928consultant editor Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor. From Apri to -May 1928cat. 11
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Goya and his timesThe Royal Academy of ArtsLondon1963cat. 66cat. 66
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El arte europeo en la corte de España durante el siglo XVIIIGalerie des Beaux-ArtsBurdeos1979Exhibitied also at Grand Palais, París y Museo Nacional del Prado, Madridcat. 18
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Goya en las colecciones madrileñasMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1983consultant editor Enrique Lafuente Ferrari. From April 19th to June 20th 1983cat. 11
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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. 16
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Goya y Maella en Valencia. Del boceto al cuadro de altarCatedral y Museo de Bellas ArtesValencia2002organized 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 2002cat. 7
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L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 volsParís1928-1950p. 126, cat. 81
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 96, cat. 241
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BarcelonaPolígrafa1970vol. I, p. 275, cat. 257
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L’opera pittorica completa di GoyaMilanRizzoli1974p. 103, cat. 225
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Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja1980-1982vol. II, p. 62 y p. 171 (il.)
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Goya. El capricho y la invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturasMadridMuseo del Prado1993pp. 146-151, 351, 352, cat. 16 y p. 148
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Goya y Maella en Valencia. Del boceto al cuadro de altarValenciaGeneralitat Valenciana2002pp. 94-96, cat. 7