Francisco Goya
1746-1828 · Spanish (Fuendetodos/Madrid) · Late Baroque to Romanticism
Known for: Court painter turned savage social critic who documented war horrors and painted nightmares on his dining room walls
Goya began as a cheerful Rococo painter and rose to become court painter to the Spanish crown. Then illness struck him deaf at 46, Napoleon invaded, and Goya witnessed atrocities that shattered his worldview. He became the most savage social critic in art history.
His Third of May 1808 is the first great anti-war painting. His Black Paintings - including Saturn Devouring His Son, painted on his dining room walls - are among the most disturbing images in art history. He died in self-imposed exile in Bordeaux.
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