Portrait of General José Manuel Romero
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
105.5 × 87.7 cm (41 1/2 × 34 1/2 in.); Framed: 136.6 × 114.7 cm (53 3/4 × 45 1/8 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89043
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The early 19th century was a troubled time in Spain. After Napoleon placed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne in 1808, the people rose up in rebellion, eventually driving the French out with the help of the British army. Although his own sentiments were patriotic and liberal, Francisco de Goya dutifully fulfilled his obligations as first painter to the king. This is a portrait of José Manuel Romero, a minister under Joseph Bonaparte, although the degree to which the man is over...
About the Artist
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes · 1746–1828
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746, in the small Aragonese village of Fuendetodos, Spain, to José Benito de Goya, a master gilder, and Gracia de Lucientes. The fourth of six children in a modest lower-middle-class family, Goya received a basic education before beginning his artistic training at age 14 under the local painter José Luzán y Martínez in Zaragoza, where he sp...