Goya: The Portraits

FranciscodeGoyayLucientes(1746–1828)wasoneofthegreatestportraitistsofhistime.Thefirstlarge-scalebookdevotedtothetopic,thishandsomevolumefeaturesportraitsthatshedlightonGoyaandhissubjects,aswellasonthepoliticallyturbulentandculturallydynamicerainwhichtheylived.Whetherportrayingroyalty,philosophers,militarymen,orfriends,theseworksarememorablebothfortheinsighttheyprovideintotherelationshipbetweenartistandsitter,andfortheirpenetratingpsychologicaldepth.XavierBraytracesGoya’scareerfromhisbeginningsattheMadridcourtofCharlesIIItohisfinalyearsinBordeaux,playedoutagainstthebackdropofwarwithFranceandthesocial,political,andculturalshiftoftheEnlightenment.Morethan60remarkableportraits,includingdrawingsandminiatures,revealthefullrangeofGoya’stechnicalandstylisticachievements,whilealsodepictingsitterswithapreviouslyunparalleledhumanity.Hisbreakwithtraditional,late-18th-centuryconventionsallowedhimtoachieveanewmodernityinportraiturethatpavedthewayforartistssuchasMatisseandPicasso.