Goya, Francisco de (1746-1828)
Autorretrato ante su caballete (Self-portrait at his easel)
c.1785
Oil on canvas, 40 x 27 cm
Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid
The execution of this canvas coincides with a decisive stage in Goya‘s life in Madrid. In 1780 he had managed to enter the Academy with his Crucified Christ and precisely in 1785 he was appointed lieutenant director of Painting.
The comparison of the physical features of the portrait with other works of that time (Preaching of Saint Bernardino of Siena in Saint Francis the Great, with the somewhat younger painter, or the Family of Charles IV, which shows him more mature), allows place Goya around forty years old. His standing figure stands out in a splendid backlight, while in the background the papers and a writing table on the table, beyond a decorative function, seem to claim the painting as a work of creation. (RABASF)