Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828)
Las floreras, o La Primavera (The Flower Girls, or Spring)
1786
Oil on canvas, 277 x 192 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
A young woman holding a girl by the hand receives a rose from another who kneels down to appreciate some flowers. A male figure behind them attempts to surprise the first woman with a baby rabbit he holds in his hand. The background of mountains visible behind them is very frequent in Goya‘s genre scenes. For this allegory of spring, the painter eschews the customary representations of the goddess Flora, used by many earlier painters. Instead, he combines real figures with that season’s traditional attributes, such as flowers and hares. The elegant posture of the young woman kneeling in the foreground echoes Las Meninas by Velázquez, whose influence is present in Goya‘s work. This is one of the cartoons for tapestries intended for the Prince of Asturias’ dining room at the El Pardo Palace. (MNP)