Goya - Prado Musuem

Our visit to the Prado museum was breathtaking. I stood in front of artworks created by Goya, Velasquez and Rubens just to name a few. Their interpretation of stories I already knew were mind boggling. The story of the Virgin Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth is a great example. I had always envisioned two young pregnant mothers. One of the artists depicts Elizabeth as an elderly woman. Knowing the story I recognized the facts shown. Yes, Elizabeth was much older.

Standing in front of Goya´s The Third of May 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid gave me goosebumps. His ability to capture so much emotion using oil on canvas was incredible. Both the darkness and composure of the subjects create such drama. The men about to be shot express so many emotions. The men with both hands at their face hide the feeling they would rather not have. The eyebrows on the man with both hands upraised are like two question marks of the situation. We do not see any facial expressions from the soldiers only their backs. Perhaps Goya did not want us to see a soldier but rather a killing machine.

Goya painted many members of the Spanish royal family, including Charles IV and Ferdinand. His work ranged from festive tapestry to cartoons to scenes of war and corpes. This evolution reflects the dark change in his later years. Near the end of his life, he became reclusive and produced frightening and obscure paintings of insanity, madness, and fantasy. His contributions represent a beginning to the expressionist movement.