GOYA FRANCISCO JOSE DE: (1746-1828) Spanish Painter. Goya is considered the most important Spanish Painter of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries and is regarded as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. A precursor of the Expressionism. His masterpiece portrayal of a naked woman, La Maja Desnuda ("The Naked Maja"), now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, was a remarkably daring nude for the time, renowned for the unashamed gaze of the model towards the viewer without negative connotations. An exceptionally rare L.S., `Fran[cis]co de Goya´, three pages, 4to, Bordeaux, 30<sup>th</sup> November 1824, to the Duchess of San Fernando, in Spanish. Goya apologies for his hasty departure from Paris preventing him from saying goodbye to her himself, stating in part `Cuando salí de Paris para venir a esta [ciudad], dispuse atropelladamente mi viaje; el tiempo urgía, me hallaba sin dinero, y admití la oferta de unos amigos que me anticiparon los gastos del camino…´ (Translation: `When I left Paris to come to this [city], I hastily organized my trip; time was urgent, I was without money, and I accepted the offer of some friends who anticipated the expenses of the trip…") Goya is still not sure about his near future and explains that his has requested to the King of Spain an extension of his permission to leave his court painter obligations, saying `Aqui estoy, sin saber lo que debo hacer de mi. He pedido una prórroga, siquiera para poder pasar el invierno al calor de la chimenea, y no se si S[u] M[ajestad] tendrá a bien de concedérmela…´ (Translation: "Here I am, not knowing what I should make of myself. I have asked for an extension, at least that I can spend the winter in the warmth before a fireplace, and I don't know if H[is] M[ajesty] will be good enough to grant it to me…") Further again, Goya explains in full detail what the present he has sent to his correspondent is, being some drafts, drawings and figurines of three dwarfs, stating in part `Me tomo la libertad de remitir a V.E. esos tres comisionados, a quienes doy el encargo especial de asegurarla cuan agradecido estoy a la memoria que conserva de mi, y cuanto deseo complacerla y servirla. Son tres enanos que se presentaron en la feria de Burdeos dos meses hace, y me pareció conveniente sacar un tanteo de sus caras y sus figurillas. El de los pantaloncitos tiene 18 pulgadas, de los otros dos (que son marido y mujer) ella tiene 21 pulgadas y el esposo 20. Celebraré que cumplan su comisión, según los deseos del invalido que los envia´ (Translation: `I take the liberty of sending to Y.E. those three commissioners [referring to his three dwarfs figurines], to whom I give the special charge of assuring you how grateful I am to the memory you keep of me, and how much I wish to please and serve you. They are three dwarfs who appeared at the Bordeaux fair two months ago, and I thought it convenient to make a test of their faces and their figurines. The one with the short trousers is 18 inches, and the other two (who are husband and wife) she is 21 inches and the husband is 20. I will celebrate that they fulfil their commission, according to the wishes of the invalid who sends them" [Goya refers here to himself]) Goya has a lengthy list of important portraits paintings of dwarfs. An exceptional document, with very interesting content related to Goya´s last years, short after his arrival to France, and referring to his work on three dwarves he met at a fair in Bordeaux. A letter in very fine condition. VG 

 

Goya became a court painter to the Spanish Crown in 1786 and this early part of his career is marked by portraits of the Spanish aristocracy. In 1793 an illness left him deaf, after which his work became progressively darker. In 1799 Goya became the First Court Painter, the highest rank for a Spanish court Painter, under King Charles IV of Spain.

During the Peninsular War and Napoleon´s invasion of Spain, Goya remained in Madrid, and his series of paintings Disasters of War, or his painting The Second of May 1808, show how much this war affected him deeply, fearing for his country´s fate. He also painted important portraits of the Royal Spanish family and of Lord Wellington.

His late period is marked by the Black Paintings, on the plaster walls of his own house "La Quinta del Sordo" ("The House of the Deaf Man") where disillusioned by political and religious corruption, and by social developments in Spain, he lived near isolation. He also painted dwarves, and persons with insanity or in mental asylums, as well as themes related with witches and fantastical creatures.

 

Goya abandoned Spain in 1824, the year of the present letter, to retire to the French city of Bordeaux from where the present letter is written. He was accompanied by his maid and companion Leocadia Weiss, 42 years younger than him, although it remains unclear if she was or not his lover.

It was at that time and in Bordeaux where Goya completed his well-known series of paintings La Tauromaquia, depicting bullfighting scenes.

 

Goya died and was buried in Bordeaux, but was later re-interred in the Royal Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida in Madrid. Famously, the skull was missing, and the Spanish consul to Bordeaux reported so to his superiors in Madrid, who wired back "Send Goya, with or without head".

 

The present letter is most probably in the hand of Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760-1828) Spanish Dramatist, Poet, and translator of works of Moliere and Shakespeare into Spanish. Goya made his friend´s portrait in his late years in Bordeaux. Fernandez de Moratin lived his late years in exile in France and died in Paris only two months after Goya passed away in Bordeaux.

 

The present letter is written to Maria Luisa of Bourbon and Villabriga (1783-1846) Duchess of San Fernando de Quiroga. She was directly related to several Kings of Spain, being the grand-daughter of Philip V, the niece of Charles III, and cousin of Charles IV. Maria Luisa and her husband, first duke of San Fernando, went into exile in 1823 to Paris.