A Manola: Leocadia Zorilla: Francisco Goya
Part of the collection at the Prado Museum, this piece is part of the "Black Painting" series and depicts Leocadia Zorilla, Goya's mistress and forty years his junior, in funeral attire leaning on what could be a grave. (1) Painted during his last five years of his life this painting uses dark colors to reflect Goya's mental state of pessimism at the time. The fact that Leocadia is leaning on a grave could signify that she is waiting for her husband's death or for Goya's. (2) Death is the only thing that is certain in life and this painting reminds the viewer of their mortality. While battling illness, Goya lost his hearing in 1792 between Goya's deafness and the couple's age difference the viewer can only imagine the tension and difficulty of Leocadia and Goya's relationship. (3) It cause the viewer to question their own relationships and consider if they have chosen well--if they have chosen people who they would want to stay with them until their last days. This painting encourages the viewer to reflect on their outlook on life and possible compare it to Goya's during his creation of the "Black Paintings".
|
(1) https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/online-gallery/on-line-gallery/obra/leocadia-zorilla/
(2) http://www.eeweems.com/goya/salas.html
(3) http://www.biography.com/people/francisco-de-goya-9317129#illness
(2) http://www.eeweems.com/goya/salas.html
(3) http://www.biography.com/people/francisco-de-goya-9317129#illness