Editing Francisco Goya (section)

==Quinta del Sordo and Black Paintings (1819–1822)==
[[File:Francisco de Goya, Saturno devorando a su hijo (1819-1823).jpg|thumb|right|''[[Saturn Devouring His Son]]'', 1819–1823.]]

Records of Goya's later life are relatively scant, and ever politically aware, he suppressed a number of his works from this period, working instead in private.<ref>Connell, 175</ref> He was tormented by a dread of old age and fear of madness.<ref>The cause of Goya's illness is unknown; theories range from [[polio]] to [[syphilis]] to [[lead poisoning]]. See Connell, 78–79</ref> Goya had been a successful and royally placed artist, but withdrew from public life during his final years. From the late 1810s he lived in near-solitude outside Madrid in a farmhouse converted into a studio. The house had become known as "La [[Quinta del Sordo]]" (The House of the Deaf Man), after the nearest farmhouse that had coincidentally also belonged to a deaf man.<ref>Connell, 204; Hughes, 372</ref>

Art historians assume Goya felt alienated from the social and political trends that followed the 1814 [[History of Spain (1810–73)|restoration of the Bourbon monarchy]], and that he viewed these developments as reactionary means of social control. In his unpublished art he seems to have railed against what he saw as a tactical retreat into [[Medievalism]].<ref name="NYM">Larson, Kay. "Dark Knight". ''New York Magazine'', Volume 22, No. 20, 15 May 1989. 111.</ref> It is thought that he had hoped for political and religious reform, but like many liberals became disillusioned when the restored Bourbon monarchy and Catholic hierarchy rejected the Spanish Constitution of 1812.<ref>Stoichita; Coderch, 25–30</ref>

At the age of 75, alone and in mental and physical despair, he completed the work of his 14 ''[[Black Paintings]]'',{{efn-ua|A contemporary inventory compiled by Goya's friend, the painter Antonio de Brugada, records 15. See Lubow, 2003}} all of which were executed in oil directly onto the plaster walls of his house. Goya did not intend for the paintings to be exhibited, did not write of them,{{efn-ua|As he had with the "[[Los caprichos|Caprichos]]" and "[[The Disasters of War]]" series. Licht (1979), 159}} and likely never spoke of them.<ref>Licht (1979), 159</ref> Around 1874, 50 years after his death, they were taken down and [[Transfer of panel paintings|transferred to a canvas support]] by owner [[Frédéric Émile d'Erlanger|Baron Frédéric Émile d'Erlanger]]. Many of the works were significantly altered during the restoration, and in the words of Arthur Lubow what remain are "at best a crude facsimile of what Goya painted."<ref>Lubow, Arthur. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/magazine/27GOYA.html The Secret of the Black Paintings]". ''[[The New York Times]]'', 27 July 2003. Retrieved 3 October 2010.</ref> The effects of time on the murals, coupled with the inevitable damage caused by the delicate operation of mounting the crumbling plaster on canvas, meant that most of the murals suffered extensive damage and loss of paint. Today, they are on permanent display at the {{Lang|es|[[Museo del Prado]]|italic=no}}, Madrid.

[[File:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes - Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat).jpg|thumb|center|600px|[[Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat)|''Witches' Sabbath'' or ''Aquelarre'']] is one of 14 from the ''[[Black Paintings]]'' series.|alt=In an array of earthen colors, a black silhouetted horned figure to the left foreground presides over and addresses a large circle of a tightly packed group of wide-eyed intense, scary, elderly and unruly women]]