Unknown paintings by Goya. "Dark Paintings" by Francisco Goya. Garden of earthly delights. Hieronymus Bosch

Revolution, deafness, illicit love, hermithood: under what circumstances did Goya create an unusual cycle of paintings on the walls of his own house

Mobile photo studio of Jean Laurent. 1872 Photographer Laurent took the first photographs of the frescoes of the House of the Deaf. Archivo Ruiz Vernacci

In May 1814, Ferdinand VII, who had been in exile for several years, returned triumphantly to Spain. He abolished the Constitution of 1812, dissolved the Cortes and restored the power of the Spanish Bourbons. Many liberal-minded deputies and intellectuals were arrested, many were hanged or shot.

Goya was friendly with many “enlightened” liberals. Although initially raised suspicions about Goya's collaboration with the French and the government of King José I were removed, Ferdinand VII hated him, and the artist's position remained vulnerable. Goya had to hide many of his paintings at the Academy of San Fernando, and he himself moved away from the court.

In February 1819, the 72-year-old artist bought a rural house and 22 acres of land in the suburbs of Madrid for 60 thousand reais, across the bridge leading to Segovia, from the meadow of San Isidro (today it is almost the center of the city), and lived as a hermit, without accepting anyone. By a strange coincidence, in a neighboring house there lived a man who, like Goya, was deaf  Goya lost his hearing after a serious illness that he suffered in 1792-1793. Presumably, it was lead poisoning (saturnism), but some researchers are inclined to believe that it was a severe stroke., so the locals called his home “quinta del sordo” - “house of the deaf.” After Goya’s death, his house began to be called that way, which, unfortunately, has not survived. Today, in its place there is a metro station, which bears the name of the artist - “Goya”.

The artist settled there with his “housekeeper”, and in fact his friend and life partner of recent years, Leocadia Zorrilla Weiss. They met in the summer of 1805 at the wedding of Goya's son and, apparently, immediately became lovers. Their relationship did not stop even after Leocadia married a certain businessman of German origin, born in Madrid, in 1807. In 1812, her husband accused Leocadia of infidelity, they divorced, and in 1814 her daughter Rosario was born. The girl received the surname Weiss, although many believe that she was Goya’s daughter: in any case, Goya treated her like a daughter until the end of his days, did a lot of painting and drawing with her (Rosario became an artist, after Goya’s death she was even close to the court and gave drawing lessons to Queen Isabella II).

Goya lived in the House of the Deaf as a hermit, did not receive anyone, because he was afraid of accusations from the Inquisition not only of liberal views, but also of immoral behavior. As it turned out 50 years later, there he painted the walls of his house: first he painted several extensive landscapes, and then, presumably in the spring or summer of 1823, he plastered the walls over the old frescoes and painted 14 or 15 oil paintings on them, which later -they began to be called “black painting” (pinturas negras) for their gloomy colors and subjects reminiscent of nightmares. These works had no analogues in the painting of that time. Some of them were written on religious themes, others on mythological subjects, such as “Saturn devouring his son.” However, for the most part, these are tragic creations of the artist’s imagination.

Francisco Goya. Coven. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya. Festival in San Isidro. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya. Asmodeus, or Fantastic Vision. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya. Two old men are eating soup. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya. Duel with clubs. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya. Pilgrimage to the source of San Isidro. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya. Atropa. 1819–1823© Museo del Prado

In January 1820, General Riego raised an armed uprising in Cadiz, which became the beginning of the revolution. In 1822, Ferdinand VII recognized the Cadiz Constitution. Spain again became a constitutional monarchy, but not for long: already on May 23, 1823, the king returned to Madrid along with the French army. The revolution was suppressed, reaction began in Spain; in November General Riego was executed.

Goya sympathized with the military united around Riego, and even made a miniature portrait of his wife. Goya's son Javier was a member of the revolutionary militia in 1823. On March 19, 1823, Cardinal Louis Bourbon, the younger brother of King Charles III, who patronized Goya, died; the family of his other patron and matchmaker, businessman Martin Miguel de Goicoechea (Goya's son Javier was married to Goicoechea's daughter Gumersinda), was compromised. Goya was scared. Leocadia persuaded him to emigrate, but flight threatened with confiscation of property.

Are you used to receiving aesthetic pleasure and pleasure from works of art? But the world of painting can not only surprise you, but also scare you. Over the centuries, great artists have created outstanding paintings that will make viewers' hair stand on end.

Do you feel uneasy when you see "Scream"? Or is there another drawn “horror story” that is imprinted in your memory? Artifex I have selected 10 paintings for you that you definitely shouldn’t look at before going to bed.

10. Caravaggio, “Judith and Holofernes”, 1599

The top opens with a realistic painting by an Italian master based on the Old Testament “Book of Judith.” The legend of a girl who, for the sake of her people, went into the enemy’s camp, won the trust of the commander Holofernes and cut off his head at night, has long worried artists throughout Europe. Usually she was depicted with a severed head in her hand in the middle of an enemy camp, but Caravaggio decided to reflect the very moment of the murder. Thanks to this decision, the artist conveyed not only the atmosphere of bloodshed, but also the emotions of the killer and the victim.

9. Bouguereau, “Dante and Virgil in Hell”, 1850

The 19th century French artist Adolphe William Bouguereau was very fond of Dante's poem The Divine Comedy. The artist depicted a scene from the XXX song of the part of the poem called “Hell”. On the eighth circle of the underworld, the main characters watch as two damned souls torment a deceiver. Bouguereau worked for a long time on the color palette of the painting and studied the aesthetic boundaries of man. The painting, according to the artist’s plan, was supposed to convey the fear and horror of what is happening in the underground world. At the Salon of 1850, this work caused disgust among the public.

The famous triptych still holds many mysteries for researchers. None of the interpretations of the work that exist today are considered exhaustive. The triptych showed the fullness of the artist’s imagination and skill. It is dedicated to the sin of sensuality, and all three parts reflect Bosch's main idea in the smallest detail. The outer doors of the triptych depict a serene picture of the universe, but when you open them, you plunge into an atmosphere of insane chaos.

7. Munch, “The Death of Marat”, 1907

Do not confuse this painting with the majestic work of the same name, which became a kind of symbol of the French Revolution. Edvard Munch wrote his painting 114 years after David, and focused not on the figure of the revolutionary publicist, but on the moment of his murder. In his inimitable style, the author of The Scream depicts a naked Charlotte Corday moments after she brutally stabbed Marat to death. Forceful strokes and an abundance of blood complement the frightening effect of the picture.

6. Blake "The Great Red Dragon and the Sea Monster", 1806-1809

He is deservedly considered one of the most mysterious English artists and engravers. This painter was tormented by ghosts and visions since childhood, and later he depicted them in his works. Blake dedicated a series of paintings to the Red Dragon from the Revelation of John the Evangelist. In this picture, the dragon personifies Satan, towering over another demon - a sea monster. The epic nature and detailed elaboration of the monsters not only frightens, but also causes admiration.

5. Bacon, “Study of the Portrait of Innocent X Velazquez”, 1953

The work is a reimagining of "Portrait of Pope Innocent X". The classic of English expressionism painted about 40 similar paintings, included in the “Screaming Dads” series. The artist changed the color of dad's clothes from red to purple and painted the entire canvas in dark colors. Thanks to the master’s technique, the work does not evoke associations with the original portrait of Velazquez, but it produces a frightening and depressing impression.

4. Dali, “The Face of War”, 1940

This painting by the famous Spanish artist can cause a panic attack in the viewer. Salvador Dali plays not only with symbols, but also with conveying mood. The design of a head shrouded in snakes, ever-shrinking skulls in the eye sockets of what was once a man, symbolizes the endless cycle of death. In the lower right corner the artist “left” his handprint. And the desert and yellow tones typical of Dali’s work give this picture a touch of paranoid madness.

3. Goya, “Saturn Devouring His Son,” 1819-1823

Some engravings can scare even an adult. Among them, the interpretation of the plot from ancient Greek mythology, where the titan Kronos devours his children in fear of being overthrown by one of them, seems the most creepy. Goya depicted madness on the face of the already ugly monster, which further thickens the atmosphere of horror of what is happening. This work “decorated” the wall in his “House of the Deaf,” but it is unlikely that anyone else would want to pass by such a painting in their home at night.

2. Curry, Gallowgate Lard, 1995

Artist Ken Curry was born in England in 1960. His dark canvases reflect the processes taking place in the modern world. Curry's paintings affect the viewer's psyche, creating a feeling of hopelessness and fear, but at the same time pushing him to think. The artist’s eerie self-portrait is the fruit of his thoughts on metaphysical issues related to the decay of modern society and human consciousness.

1. Rapp, “The Loss of Mind to Matter,” 1973

Even taking a quick glance at a painting by the Austrian artist Otto Rapp, you want to immediately look away. A decomposing human head on a birdcage, an untouched tongue inside it - such a “still life” strains not only the psyche of the audience, but also causes purely physiological discomfort. One can guess what meaning the artist put into the work, but it is quite obvious - this is a truly frightening picture! And if someone dreams of a similar plot at night, then they need to “thank” Rapp’s masterful technique for the nightmare.

"Black Paintings" by Goya

In 1819, Goya bought an estate - “twenty-two acres of cultivated land with a house. He liked the privacy of the place and the name of the estate - Quinta del Sordo (House of the Deaf).

Several decades before the events described, Goya became deaf as a result of illness. His deafness was complete.
Goya did not hear a sound; He also did not, like many of his fellow sufferers, use either the alphabet of signs or writing instruments for conversation. It seems that the injury locked the artist into a lock that only painting could open.
The only people who shared the loneliness of the 72-year-old artist were the rude housekeeper Leocadia and her daughter (who, according to some information, was the daughter of Goya himself).

Shortly after moving to Quinta del Sordo, Goya became seriously ill. For six months his life hung in the balance, but whether the old man’s strong body survived or the efforts of Dr. Arriet, who saved him, at the beginning of 1820 he began to recover.

Self-Portrait with Doctor Arrieta (1820)

Having barely recovered, Goya hurried. Staggering from weakness, he walked around the house, looking closely at the walls, testing the dents and bulges of the surfaces with his palm. A strange idea was born in his head...

Between 1820 and 1823, Goya decorated the 2 largest rooms of his building with a series of paintings, they were called “black” for their gloomy coloring and subjects that evoke nightmares, these are tragic creations of the artist’s imagination
The Spaniards call them Pintura negra, we conscientiously translate the Black Paintings, meanwhile we are talking about frescoes. They covered all the walls and piers of Quinta del Sordo.
These scenes are characterized by a stern and courageous message; everything in them reminds of death and the futility of human life.

A true artist thinks in form and space, and, indeed, if you mentally follow the arrangement of the frescoes, it is not difficult to see that each of them was created for a specific place.
“Black paintings” adorned the walls of the “House of the Deaf” until the 1870s, after which they were acquired by Baron Emil Erlanger, a German banker and art collector. The paintings were transferred from the walls to canvas and exhibited in 1878 in Paris.
In 1881 they were donated to the Prado Museum in Madrid.
During the artist’s lifetime, not a single living soul, excluding family members, saw the “black paintings.”

in “Black Paintings” there are no thoughts or feelings - painting has absorbed philosophy, beliefs, passions and crushed them with monstrous power under the pressure of one single thought-feeling - the denial of man.
Not any specific one, Spanish or contemporaries, but as such, its nature and the thinnest layer of civilizational pollen on top of it. He carried Dante's warning - abandon hope, all who enter here - from the gates of hell to the world of the living.

At a time when the most brilliant brushes glorified the revolution and Beethoven was finishing the last part of the Ninth Symphony in Vienna, the hymn to humanity - the great “Ode”, on the other side of Europe, in the suburbs of provincial Madrid, a deaf old man was methodically, fresco by fresco, restoring the perpendicular to all signs and ideas of his time, and at the same time to all the aspirations and disappointments of human existence.
Pintura negra embodies absolute nihilism. And the most amazing thing, the deepest, most radical philosophical idea is expressed exclusively by pictorial means: the finest range of black, with small white splashes that magically transform blackness into darkness.
Was there a general design behind the cycle of frescoes? Undoubtedly, and this is indicated by the general color tone of all paintings that depict humans and humanoids.
Looking at Goya’s work, one can find the answer: - the decline of morals in modern consumer society is caused not by the exponentially increasing information flow and industrialization, but by the weakness of the human soul, brought up by things. The more perfect and functional things become, the weaker a person becomes spiritually and physically.

On the ground floor, on both sides of the entrance, there are images of a beautiful, majestic woman (most likely this is Doña Leocadia).
The woman seems to represent a healthy, youthful sensuality

Dona Leocadia

And opposite there are two men: one, angry and excited, whispers something in the ear of the second, unshakably calm.

Two monks

On the opposite wall, Goya paints Judith swinging her sword to cut off the head of Holofernes. The heroic episode of biblical history takes on a sinister connotation in Goya’s interpretation.
This is an example of how deeply ingrained in Goya’s mind was the idea of ​​a woman’s cruelty.

On the same wall, next to Judith, Saturn, clutching his son in his huge hands and bringing him to his bloody mouth, is a symbol of the incomprehensible irrationality of the universe and the disfigured paternal principle, just as Judith can be a symbol of the perverted maternal principle.

This is one of the most terrible and disgusting paintings in all world art - “Saturn Devouring His Son.” It is difficult, almost impossible to look into the crazy eyes of Saturn, tearing the body of a baby into pieces. The unjustified cruelty of the image casts doubt on the mental health of the person who created such a wild picture.

"Saturn devouring his children."

Why the ancient Roman god, where did children come from?
If you look closely, you will see that the victim has well-developed, not at all childish, female forms; An X-ray taken decades ago revealed an erect male organ on the “father” (“edited” during restoration in the 1870s) – but the painting is still called “Saturn Devouring His Children.”

On the long side walls we see two huge paintings - “The Pilgrimage to Saint Isidore” and “The Sabbath of Witches”.

In the Pilgrimage to San Isidro, Goya depicted a crowd wandering from nowhere to nowhere. Nothing in the picture itself suggests that these are pilgrims; there are no topographical or other signs of the Church of San Isidro and the cemetery around it on the canvas...

. “Pilgrimage” vaguely resembles a charming sketch for the tapestry “Feast in San Isidoro”, but this is, as it were, the “dark side” of the spring festivities. A group of madmen and drunkards huddled together against the backdrop of a gloomy landscape makes a depressing impression.
Darkness has thickened over the stage, despair breaks through into joy and distorts the faces of the singers, who occupy the central place in the picture, confusion has gripped the crowd, consisting of figures wrapped in cloaks, who are more reminiscent of shadows restless in chaos. Still, there is nothing sinister in this crowd; people are frightened by the darkness that has enveloped them, but are hardly guilty of it.

Pilgrimage to San Isidro

Even more terrible is the crowd depicted in the “Sabbath of Witches” - people with monstrously distorted faces, which are difficult to even call faces, ghouls and witches rushing towards a huge black goat - the Devil, looking like a giant shadow.
This crowd has lost its human appearance, people's faces resemble the faces of animals and testify to the victory of the irrational principle. Goya once again recalled in this scene his hatred of irrationalism, presented here in the form of black magic, and his many years of fascination with this topic.

"Coven"

What a contrast with the early painting of the same name, made for the Countess of Osuna, where the devil seemed to be a harmless “little gray goat”, and the whole scene was more of a playful nature.

Witches' Sabbath - 1798

Together with Saint Isidore, this picture is a merciless judgment on the man of the crowd. If an individual allows himself to disappear into the crowd, he will inevitably lose his human qualities.

The gallery of eerie images and fantastic visions continues on the second floor of the house.

“Two Laughing Women” make up a pair of “Old Men at Chowder” - innocent, at first glance, plots that nevertheless for some reason cause disgust.

A woman's laughter resembles a vile grimace,

"Two Laughing Women"

and old people with gaping toothless mouths do not evoke a drop of sympathy

"Old Men for Chowder"

The “bull shepherds” brutally beat each other, one is already covered in blood, both are knee-deep in a quagmire from which they will never be able to get out and will be forever doomed to a meaningless fight. All this takes place against the backdrop of a serene rural landscape.

"Bull Shepherds"

Another “Pilgrimage to Saint Isidore” is also presented here, although this human whirlpool can hardly be called a “pilgrimage” - the pilgrims are carried away into the dark forest by a stream of light.

"Pilgrimage to Saint Isidore"

One of the most interesting paintings in the cycle is “Fantastic Vision” (aka “Cliff Fired by Cannons” and also known as “Asmodeus”).
Two huge figures flying towards the city on the cliff soar above the crowd, oblivious to the gunmen who aim at them from cover. The painting is as phantasmagorical as the other paintings of the House, however, the rock, the city, and the horsemen at the foot of the mountains are quite concrete, which allowed us to speculate that Goya in this form tried to depict his vision of one of the episodes of the war with the French.

“Cannonballed Cliff” and “Asmodeus”

The painting stands out a little from the general series: “Reading” - expressing the artist’s faith in the triumph of reason among the follies of harsh reality,

"Reading"

The artist painted Fate and Fight on the entire long wall to the left of the entrance

Goya. Atropos (The Fates)

The fresco “Dog” is at first seemingly an abstraction. But, looking closely, we will see a mongrel, with the last of her strength, fighting the earth’s ramparts, which could collapse on her at any moment.

"Dog"

The only one of all the frescoes given a thin multi-color glaze is the image of a dog, which is either howling sadly at the moon, or trying to swim out of this world into a better one. There is no other self-portrait like this in world painting either.

“Black Paintings” became an expression of the old artist’s nightmares, which haunted him throughout his life and especially worsened in recent years. At the same time, this is the quintessence of his thoughts and experiences, love and hatred, rejection of the crowd, passionate reluctance to grow old, contempt for superstition and, in spite of everything, faith in the power of reason.

In his declining years, Goya found the strength to plunge into the abyss of the subconscious, to bring his deepest, darkest thoughts to light, and his courage was rewarded. From then on, the dark visions ceased to torment the artist forever, remaining on the walls of the House of the Deaf.

X-rays showed that there were others underneath these murals. Having settled in the House, Goya covered the walls with familiar images of his past life, there were folk festivals, scenes from city life... Then illness, delirium, visions... he destroyed the past, replacing it with painful nightmares.

October 18, 2012

Saturn devouring his children

1821-1823; 146x83 cm

Prado, Madrid

Goya spent the years before emigrating to France near Madrid on the banks of Manzanares, in a house called the “House of the Deaf.” Wall paintings of this house, portraits, several paintings for churches and the graphic series “Disparates” (translated as absurdity, madness) are among the master’s later creations.

In the paintings made using the oil painting technique on the walls of the “House of the Deaf,” one most often sees fantastic, monstrous images generated by the morbid imagination of the old artist, who is not only deaf, but also beginning to go blind, for whom the whole world has turned into dark, tragic nightmares.

However, at present, a connection has been established between the paintings and the political events of those years, although the clearly expressed element of fantasy actually makes the dependence of what is depicted on real events difficult to discern. The true meaning of these works is encrypted and closely connected with popular beliefs, but the tragic grotesque in these so-called “Black Canvases” is taken to the limit...

Two old women eating soup

1821-1823; 53x85 cm
wall painting transferred to canvas
Prado, Madrid

The master's palette at this time consists mainly of black, gray, ocher and brown; only sometimes he unexpectedly intersperses white or blood-red spots into this rather gloomy coloring. At the end of the 19th century, the “Black Canvases” will be transferred from the walls of the “House of the Deaf” to canvas. The house itself, in which, by the way, the Goya Museum was never created, was finally destroyed in 1910. Today in its place there is a metro station, which bears the artist’s name - “Goya”...

In the famous “Saturn Devouring His Children,” the cannibal god, resembling a bird of prey with bulging eyes, is depicted at the most terrifying moment, his open mouth evokes associations with the gates of hell, behind which his children die one after another in terrible agony. .

Fight ("Two Strangers")

1820-1823; 123x266 cm
wall painting transferred to canvas
Prado, Madrid

Rubens addressed the same topic in 1636, but presented it in a completely different way, although using a similar composition. Rubens makes the viewer perceive Saturn somewhat detached, as if from the outside. Goya makes us unwitting participants in a hellish feast - just as he invites us to join two old witches eating a meal (“Two Old Women Eating Soup”).

Among the noble works of art that delight the eye and evoke only positive emotions, there are paintings that are, to put it mildly, strange and shocking. We present to your attention 20 paintings by world-famous artists that will make you feel horrified...

"Failure of Mind to Matter"

A painting painted in 1973 by the Austrian artist Otto Rapp. He depicted a decomposing human head placed on a birdcage containing a piece of flesh.

"Hanging Live Negro"

"Dante and Virgil in Hell"

"Hell"

"The Great Red Dragon and the Sea Monster"

"Spirit of Water"

"Necronom IV"

"The Flaying of Marcia"

"The Temptation of Saint Anthony"

"Severed Heads"

"Scream"

"The Death of Marat"

"Still life of masks"

"Gallowgate Lard"

"Saturn Devouring His Son"

"Judith Killing Holofernes"

"Nightmare"

"Massacre of the innocents"

"Study of the Portrait of Innocent X Velazquez"

"Garden of Earthly Delights"