During the same period, Goya was felled by an attack of the unknown illness
that had deafened him in the 1790s. He survived through the persistent efforts
of his friend Dr. Arrieta, and his Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta (1820) was
his testimony and expression of gratitude. The doctor supports the patient,
whose hands pluck at the bedclothes, and he offers Goya a glass of liquid,
probably medicine. Goya’s mouth and eyes are open, though he does not
focus on anything. The doctor’s eyes are dark with sleeplessness, but the
pursed lips may hint at a degree of relief and satisfaction. The frontal pose
is suggestive of paintings of the dead body of Christ supported by saints or
angels, but then we notice that the two men are À anked by dark, insubstantial
¿ gures, grey heads that seem to À uctuate in and out of the black background.
They are painted with the same harrowing unreality as demons and witches
in other black paintings by Goya. The inscription at the bottom of this double
portrait is much longer and more personal than the three brief words of
David to Marat. We are now fully launched into the era of Romanticism, for
the beginnings of which we will return to France in our next lecture. Ŷ
Jacques-Louis David:
The Death of Marat, 1793, oil on canvas, 5’ 5” x 4’ 2 ½”
(162 x 128 cm), Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium.
The Death of Socrates, 1787, oil on canvas, 4’ 3” x 6’ 5 ½”
(130 x 196 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New
York, USA.
Napoleon Crossing the Alps, 1800, oil on canvas, 8’ 1” x 7’ 7”
(246 x 231 cm), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
The Oath of the Horatii, 1785, oil on canvas, 10’ 10” x 13’ 11”
(330 x 425 cm), Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.Francisco Goya:
The Parasol, 1777 78, oil on canvas, 41 x 60” (104 x 152 cm), Museo
del Prado, Madrid, Spain.Works Discussed