Self-portrait with Dr Arrieta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Self-portrait with Dr Arrieta |
|
|---|---|
Inscription (bottom of canvas in brown): Goya agradecido, à su amigo Arrieta: por el acierto y esmero con g.e le salvò la vida en su aguda y peligrosa enfermedad, padecido à fines de año 1819, a los setenta y tres de su edad. Lo pintó en 1820.
|
|
| Artist | Francisco de Goya |
| Year | 1820 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 114.62 cm × 76.52 cm (45.13 in × 30.13 in) |
| Location | Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota |
Self-Portrait with Dr Arrieta is the English title given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya. The work is an oil on canvas, painted in 1820, and is currently held in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota. Many scholars have seen religious themes in the work. Other interpretations compare and contrast the painting with Goya's series of Black Paintings, contextualizing the work within his career at large.
Contents
Background
In 1792, Goya developed a sudden, serious illness which included dizziness, weakness, delirium, sickness, abdominal pain, deafness, and partial blindness. By the time he returned to Madrid, in 1793, Goya was completely deaf. Various diagnoses of this illness have been offered: ..., lead poisoning, cerebrovascular disease, acute infection of the central nervous system, and the rare condition of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome—temporary inflammation of the uveal tract associated with permanent deafness.
In 1819 Goya had a second serious illness. Little information is available on the nature of the illness or the treatment provided by Eugenio García Arrieta beyond the painting Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta. Goya may have expected to die, but under Arrieta's care, he was nursed back to health and lived another eight years. Thus, the work was a present for Arrieta, painted in gratitude for the gift of life. However, it is uncertain how long the painting remained in Arrieta's possession. In 1820 the doctor traveled to Africa to study bubonic plague, and it is probable that the painting remained in Spain. By 1860, when exhibited in Madrid, it was in the collection of Mr Martinez of Madrid. Later the painting was recorded in various private collections in Paris before being acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Significance
Goya's Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta has been described as an emblem of a shift in Spanish portraiture towards both the Modern Period and the secularization of portraits. Further, the painting is also demonstrative of a shift within Goya's own portraiture, particularly in his depiction of himself before and after his encounters with illness. In a drawing completed by Goya sometime before 1792 – prior to his first encounter with death – the artist's use of defined lines and distinct shadows depict him in a youthful, lively manner. This representation is markedly different from the way Goya represents himself in Self-Portrait, with a hanging jaw and weakened body. Thus, the portrait, especially when seen in relation to earlier works, aids in analyzing and tracking this shift in Goya's art.
Additionally, Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta can be situated within the context of themes carried throughout Goya's artistic career. As Baldwin observes, there exists a continuous interaction between contrasting ideas of pessimism and hope, forgetting and relearning, destruction and salvation across many of Goya's works. Self-Portrait is significant within this context as it presents a scene of weakness and death, yet simultaneously provides hope and the anticipation of healing.
See also
In Spanish: Goya a su médico Arrieta para niños
- List of works by Francisco Goya
Sources
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – The fine art of patient-doctor relationships
- John J. Ciofalo. "The Artist in the Vicinity of Death." The Self-Portraits of Francisco Goya (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)
