On 31st October, the Palazzo Reale in Milan will host an exhibition of works by the great Spanish master
by Sophia Negri
The Goya exhibition, “The Rebellion of Reason” is curated by Professor Victor Nieto Alcaide, who is in charge of the museum, engravings and exhibitions at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. There is a common theme that emerges from, and cuts across, the general chronological view of the parts of the show. And that theme is the idea of Goya as a man, and the degree to which he really was a creature of the Enlightenment, a man who was committed to ‘reason’. Goya was an artist who opened up to modernity, while at the same time remaining deeply integrated in his own time.
Il Colosso.
As Prime Court Painter and director of the Real Academia de San Fernando, Goya came into contact with intellectual circles, finding trusted friends with whom he could exchange viewpoints, discussing opinions and interpretations on political, social and cultural issues. This was a long and troubled period in history, bursting with change, transformation and political, social and ideological events.
Il manicomio.
Supported by the Cultural Department of the Milan City Council and produced by Palazzo Reale and 24 ORE Cultura, the project shows Goya’s world through paintings, etchings and engravings.
He himself underwent a revolution in painting that was in accordance with the complicated period in which he found himself; a change that he expressed both in pictures and also by turning painting into a revolutionary language, one that was able to break the rules of simply imitating models. As a result of that, Goya was the first artist whose work was the product of experience, of personal feelings, of passion and suffering, in addition to a vision of the surrounding world.
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos.
The exhibition reflects Goya’s approach to being an artist, his way of thinking and his ideology, showing visitors the works that best describe his artistic evolution and the themes he dealt with. It also shows the kind of person he was and the unstable and cruel historical circumstances that shaped not only his art but also his way of thinking.
He was one of the first artists to identify himself with life itself, which led to his obsession to rid himself of the constraints of patronage so as to be able to paint freely. That is why it is not possible to understand his painting without also understanding his life, or to understand his life except through his paintings.
Above, Goya, Autoritratto al cavalletto.
(Goya. The Rebellion of Reason – Barchemagazine.com – October 2023)
