08/02/2020 - The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, in Madrid, is currently presenting Goya, tres lecturas: la mujer, la guerra y el rostro. Although we had the opportunity to visit previous exhibitions of the engravings by the Spanish artist (1746-1828) before, even today we cannot help being surprised by his realistic and moving images. From this particular exhibition we will analyze the curatorial nucleus referring to women, because of the importance Goya gave to the female presence and the symbolism that it entails.

Nadie se conoce, by Francisco Goya (1797-1799)

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The gallery text introduces us to this graphic world and tells us that the artist addresses a feminine theme in the series Caprichos and Desastres de la guerra. Although Goya represents negativity with a male character, he depicts women with strength and, at the same time, with sensitivity. But it should be noted that the female figure is almost always a mere judicious spectator.

La filiación, by Francisco Goya (1797-1799)

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Let's not forget that Goya lived in a saintly and superstitious society. With the virulence unleashed in the engravings, he rejects the prevailing and obsolete forms in which Spain is submerged with respect to the rest of Europe. As an artist of his time, who is against what is happening, he does not adhere to any of the prevailing artistic forms that were exhibited in the rest of the continent.

Each scene Goya depicts is a complex story and although the titles mark a dominant theme, there are secondary derivations where we must not be very perceptive to notice them. The expressions of the women are the most varied, Goya reserves for her a face and looks completely opposite to those of the male figures. Undoubtedly, the artist dedicated the only positive roles to women, as a symbol of truth.

¿Quién más rendido?, by Francisco Goya (1797-1799)

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