All language subtitles for Great Art Series 3 2of5 Goya 1080p ITV

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exploring some of the greatest
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We then use this as a springboard
to take a broader look

at extraordinary artists.

A short while ago,
The National Gallery in London

held a show that was soon twinkling
with five-star reviews.

The show -
many, many years in preparation -

was called Goya: The Portraits.

Working with the museum
and its curators,

we took this opportunity
to re-examine the complex nature

of one of art's most revolutionary,
passionate and popular artists.

Painting, like poetry,

selects from among the universal
that which it judges

most appropriate for its purpose.

It unites
in a single imaginary being

circumstances and characters which
Nature presents distributed in many,

and it is in this unity,
skilfully contrived,

that true imitation is achieved,
by which the good artist acquires

the title of inventor
and not that of servile copyist.

And this sort of ridge of paint
is the original edge of the red.

The jacket...
So, this black came in later.

LIFT BEEPS

Goya sits in-between the two great
luminaries of Spanish painting -

Velazquez in the 17th century,

and, of course,
Picasso in the 20th century.

And Goya's right there
in the middle,

kind of straddling the old world,

the Ancien Regime on the one hand
and modernity on the other.

So he's a figure
that's right at the crossroads

of how we think
our history has developed.

Now, he's an artist who looks upon
the world with great curiosity,

with a kind of
piercing intelligence.

It shows Goya as somebody
who kind of stands apart,

who stands outside his time.

Why are we still interested in Goya
200 years later?

Well, it's really because
he has this very focussed

and very profound vision.

It's a Goya very much
who takes us on a journey.

He takes us on a journey
through the history of Spain

at the end of the 18th century,
the beginning of the 19th century -

very turbulent times -

but he's also an artist who takes us
on a sort of personal journey.

When thinking about this project,
I was very keen to tell the story

of Goya's development
as a portrait painter.

And what's amazing is that each
portrait he does, he rethinks it.

He rethinks his approach, he
rethinks how to make his sitter sit,

what kind of lighting,
what kind of format,

and it's progressive.

It doesn't stop,
he doesn't repeat himself.

He had a very long life.

He lived until he was 82,

and his life spanned part
of the 18th century but also went

well into the 19th century
and spanned not just a period

of great political change in Spain,

but also a great personal
and artistic journey.

I mean, his style really,
really changed in that time.

His style also...
Purely seen through the portraits,

you can see how stark
the contrast is

between his first portrait
commission and the very last.

I think most people,
when they think of Goya,

they think of the Black Paintings,

or they think of
his Caprichos etchings,

or, of course, the Naked Maja.

They don't immediately think of him
as a portrait painter,

but, really, that's
how he wanted to be remembered.

And, in fact, about a third
of his output is portraits,

and that's very much
how he wanted to be remembered.

It's what he strove to be.

He wanted to be
the Royal portrait painter.

His paintings are about the sitter,
about their position.

They tend to be
middle-class sitters,

particularly towards
the end of his life.

He makes them look very modern,
and, indeed, they were at the time,

but they connect very well
with 19th-century painters

such as Degas, Manet, and later on,

Picasso and even Freud
to a certain extent.

Francisco de Goya
was born 30th March, 1746

in the tiny village of Fuendetodos

in the Northern Spanish province
of Aragon.

Before long,
his family had moved to Zaragoza,

where, as he reached adulthood,
he trained to become a painter

and enjoyed country life,

though his ambition grew
for greater success.

'In terms of his character,
he seems to have been able to be

'what the Spaniards call
"campechano",

'which means he was very close
to the ordinary folk.

'He loved to go out into the country
and have a drink with friends.

'He loved hunting. That was an
activity not only the very rich did,

'but, of course, people from all
parts of society in the countryside.

'He was also a very sophisticated
man of the city.

'We know a lot about him

'because there's a lot of
personal correspondence from him.'

Goya was essentially a self-trained
artist, unlike his contemporaries,

who had studied and drawn endless
life models and plaster casts.

But he was just as ambitious.

In 1763 and 1766,

he submitted entries to Spain's
Royal Academy of Fine Art in Madrid

but was rejected on both occasions.

Undeterred, he decided the best
next step was to travel to Italy

to study the Old Masters.

He was desperate to learn and
record what stood in front of him.

This is clearly demonstrated
in an extremely rare sketchbook

which was rediscovered in 1993

and is stored
at the Prado Museum in Madrid.

TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH:

When Goya returned from Italy
to Zaragoza,

he was amongst several painters
employed to paint religious scenes

in monasteries
and grand cathedrals like El Pilar.

In 1773, he married Josefa Bayeu,

of a prominent family of painters
with good connections

to the Spanish Court.

His big break came in 1775,

when he was invited
to the court in Madrid

to paint a series of paintings
known as "tapestry cartoons"

because they were used as guides
for the weavers

at the Royal Tapestry Factory
of Santa Barbara,

located in the centre of the city.

These tapestry cartoons
were colourful works that recorded

contemporary life in Madrid
and the surrounding countryside.

They depicted ordinary people
having picnics, dancing,

playing games
and generally enjoying themselves.

These were scenes that the king,
Charles III,

wanted as a way
of showing they were in tune

with the contemporary lives
of their subjects.

Goya worked hard producing
these cartoons for the tapestries

that were to be hung on the cold
stone walls of the royal palaces,

such as El Escorial
to the north of Madrid

and the royal residences
in and around the capital.

His efforts were rewarded.

In 1781, he received
his first major public commission.

This is the
Basilica of San Francisco el Grande,

which was commissioned
by Charles III

and built in Goya's lifetime.

And in 1783,
seven painters were called upon

to decorate the main altarpieces.

Goya painted this altarpiece here
of San Bernardino of Siena.

And he took this very seriously
because he wasn't yet

a court-salaried painter,
the others were,

but this was his chance
to prove himself.

And he says in his letters that
this was a "competencia formal",

a formal competition.

At the same time
that he was painting this,

Goya received a portrait commission
from the Count of Floridablanca,

which was his first
official portrait, and in it,

Goya shows himself showing
Floridablanca a small painting.

And I wouldn't be surprised
if that small painting

was actually a sketch
for this big altarpiece here.

So, everything is related somehow,
and this is his moment, really,

to prove himself
among other Spanish painters.

But the painting, in terms
of the portrait aspect, is key,

because it's a major breakthrough.

What we have here
is San Bernardino,

this ascetic saint,
preaching to the people.

He was a great speaker.

It's meant to be L'Aquila,
14th century,

but he decides to go for
a 17th-century context.

They're all dressed
in 17th-century clothes,

and in doing so,
Goya is paying respect to Velazquez

and to one picture specifically,

which is The Surrender Of Breda,
where, in that picture,

we see men in similar costumes.

But right to the far right,
there is a man looking out at you,

and we all think
that is Velazquez himself.

Goya does the same thing here.

Among all these gentlemen
looking up,

there is one man
looking straight at you,

and it's the young Goya himself.

36 years old, with ambition...

And here he's smartened up,
his gaze is fixed on the viewer,

on the people
praying before his altarpiece,

and I think
he would have enjoyed that,

the idea of people kneeling
before this large altarpiece,

praising it from an artistic point
of view and then suddenly realising,

"Ah, but it's Francisco de Goya,"
this young aspiring painter.

"Dear Martin,

"so, shooting...

"I cannot get it out of my head that
the season for thrushes is near,

"and were it not for
the San Francisco painting,

"I wouldn't have to care a fig
for what others may think -

"just do what pleases me,

"and let those who involve
themselves in intrigues

"at the court and society
stay in their own muck,

"for it is clear to me
that the covetous neither live

"nor know where they live."

Much of what we know
about Goya himself and his life

from the beginning
of his career in Madrid

is in the letters
that Goya wrote to his friend.

Martin Zapater was from Zaragoza,

and he grew up
on the school benches with Goya.

They were childhood friends,

and it was a friendship
which lasted until, in fact,

Zapater died in 1803.

And they loved each other,

perhaps very passionately.

Certainly on Goya's side.

Goya knew that if he wanted to be
successful at court

and as a painter in his own right,
portraiture was the key.

Through his contact with
the Count of Floridablanca,

Goya apparently received
an introduction

to King Charles III's
younger brother,

the Infante Don Luis,
who was living in semi-exile

about 120 miles west of Madrid.

Goya took his time
building a relationship

from these prospective patrons,
and indeed was invited to paint

the portraits of
the Infante's young family.

This is the
Family of the Infante Don Luis.

Don Luis was living in exile
at the time,

he had misbehaved at court.

He had a real liking
for young ladies,

and was caught literally in the act,

and it caused terrible scandal
at court

and his elder brother Charles III
was forced to tell him

that one, he had to marry,
and two, live outside Madrid.

Goya spent two summers
with the family

and he first did individual
portraits of husband and wife

and the children,
and it all culminated

in this amazing group portrait
of the family and their servants.

And Goya has shown himself
in the actual picture,

painting a large canvas,
he's just drawn out the outlines.

And that canvas of course
is the canvas we see today,

so there he is.

The main character is Don Luis,
of course,

sitting, playing a game
of solitaire almost absent-mindedly

as the action is going on
around him.

And at centre stage
is Maria Teresa, his young wife,

having her hair done by
the court coiffeur, Santos Garcia.

And she's having her hair prepared

so she can have the headdress
placed on her head,

which two of the maids are holding.

But the real mystery
are these four men on the far right.

Who are they? We don't know.

Payrolls give us an indication
of who was being employed

by Don Luis and Maria Teresa.

One of them might be the secretary
to Don Luis.

I've got a new theory about
this picture and it's about access,

it's about how a painter,
because of his skills, his talent,

is able to enter
the inner sanctum of a family.

And the same goes for the barber,
the peluquero, for the hairdresser.

And of course, the barber today
is still the person who knows

what's going on, and one wonders if
he's sort of equating himself

or comparing himself to
a court barber as a court painter.

That's just a little theory.

Very sadly, Don Luis dies
a year after this picture

and with him dies
his first royal patron.

Goya was very ambitious, and in some
of the earlier portraits,

he often inserts himself in.

That follows the tradition
of earlier painters.

His first major commission
for the Infante Don Luis,

he inserts himself at an easel
in the corner.

Of course, he is referring back to
Velazquez's Las Meninas.

He's making connections.

I think in his later works, when he
was more established as an artist,

he was certainly more confident
and would do more.

There would be less trying to
ingratiate yourself

with your audience, I think.

There's more confidence in being
able to do what he wanted to do.

There was always this adherence
to nature, to truth,

and that really stayed with him
throughout his life.

GOYA: I have now established
an enviable way of living.

I do not wait on anyone
in antechambers,

and if anyone wants anything from me
they must come to me.

I have made myself more in demand

and unless it is some person of rank
or a friend,

I do not work for anyone.

And to the extent that I have
made myself so in demand,

they don't stop coming to me.

And they still don't.

I don't know how
I shall be able to cope,

for it is so unexpected
that you can hardly imagine it.

Goya's popularity
as a portrait painter grew rapidly

during the mid 1780s.

He was commissioned to paint
the founding directors

of the National Bank of San Carlos,
now the Bank of Spain.

This was a new institution supported
by enlightened thinkers in Spain

including Goya himself.

The Count of Altamira
was one of the directors

and the success of this
beautifully-rendered portrait

led to further commissions for Goya
to paint his wife and children.

Goya's portraits of these
influential people

demonstrated his free brushwork
and naturalistic observation

and clearly shows the influence
of Velazquez.

With revolution sweeping across
neighbouring France,

King Charles III
focused on home-grown talent

and offered Goya a permanent,
salaried position

within the court itself.

In 1785, his fortune further
increased and he was appointed

Deputy Director of the Royal Academy
of Fine Art of San Fernando.

Goya's list of influential patrons
expanded.

His modern approach to portraiture
appealed to a Spanish nobility

wishing to associate itself with the
developing European enlightenment.

He was asked by these
very wonderful patrons -

the Duke of Osuna,
who had just received his Dukedom,

his wife,

the extraordinarily enlightened,
advanced, intellectual lady

the Condesa Duquesa de Benavente,

and the children that had survived
miscarriages and early deaths -

which was of course a given
in those days -

and he was asked to produce
a family portrait.

This was to be a life-size,
enormously complex,

but very in a way simple because
this was an enlightened family.

The mother puts her arm
around the little ones' shoulders

and they have these lovely
fluffy dogs,

which appear in all of
Goya's portraits

of the aristocracy at this time.
Pet dogs were much in favour.

And if you look at the details
of the Countess,

the Duchess's dress,
it is absolutely exquisite.

I mean, it looks like a very simple
construct of white muslin,

but if you look at the way the edges
are cut and bordered,

it's a miracle of dress making
and must have cost a fortune.

This portrait somehow floats
the notion of aristocracy

as way up there in the clouds.

Wasp waists, exquisite dress,
perfect outlines,

not a hair out of place.

And she's wearing this remarkable
stomacher with enamelled buttons.

Every detail of the costume
is exquisitely painted

and the brushwork on this picture
is astonishing

when you hone in on the details.

It's also unlined,
it's in almost perfect condition,

so it's one of the very rare
opportunities

to see a work by Goya
almost as he painted it.

This painting is a portrait of
Therese Louise de Sureda

and I'm in the process of
in-painting some of the losses.

He painted very quickly and loosely,
it's beautiful to see.

He prepared his canvas
with an orange ground

and you can actually see the ground
poking through in certain areas.

Sometimes with just glazes over it,
such as in the chair.

He painted with
a very transparent paint

and allowed the ground to show
through and create the wood grain.

So you can see that the shape
of her hair

makes an upside down heart,

and we're not sure
if she wore her hair that way

or if Goya just did that
as a little bit of fun.

She was French and you can see
she has a little bit of haughtiness,

a little bit of French-ness
about her. It's pretty incredible.

The unrest caused
by the French Revolution

and the death of Charles III
at the end of 1788

brought forth a period
of nervousness

in the Spanish halls of power.

But the new king, Charles IV,
who ascended to the throne

accompanied by his wife Maria Luisa,

made clear his commitment
to the Bourbon dynasty.

As a court employee, Goya remained
faithful to the royal cause,

despite connections to those
suspected of plotting

against the monarchy.

Goya was asked to swear an oath
of allegiance to the king

and, having done so,

was soon appointed to the position
of Court Painter.

As such, he was assigned to execute
portraits of the Royal family

that were to hang
in grand residencies

such as the Royal Palace.

What's important to understand
is that portraiture at the time,

particularly because of
the French Revolution next door,

portraits had to be approachable,

they had to be in sync
with the people.

And I think that's why particularly
the Royal portraits

had to be as they are,

they're meant to be king and queen
as human beings,

people you could meet
and have sessions.

We know the King received people
at his lunch.

And I think we over-interpret
these portraits,

we might think that he was
mocking them, but not in the least,

he was very respectful
of the Spanish monarchy.

He was a royalist, he believed
in the Royal Spanish monarchy

and he was their servant.

GOYA: I cannot do more
than I am doing at present.

My situation is very different
to what I may think,

because I spend a lot, because
I chose to and because I like to.

Also, I happen to be a man
who is known by everyone

from the King down,
and I am not able to compromise

my nature or talent,
as some others may.

In 1793, Goya,
feeling fatigued and unwell,

decided to travel to Seville
and Cadiz to rest and recover.

It is not known
what caused Goya's illness

but its severity left him
close to death

and rendered him totally deaf.

The deafness
was an extraordinary event.

People continue to wonder
what happened to him,

and whether it really was
lead poisoning,

given the amount of lead white
that he was using in his pictures,

like all artists.

They were all despairing
of his death,

and they were all exchanging letters
about his condition,

which was grave, extremely grave.

He remained stone deaf
for the rest of his life,

and this is a man who loved music,
who loved conversation,

who was incredibly gregarious
and outgoing.

It enabled him, I think, to start
painting and drawing for himself,

perhaps for the very first time,
completely freely,

which was a turning point
in his career.

It also enabled him to, in a way,
stand up for himself

as an independent artist.

Rebellion in France
started to spill into Spain.

Liberal-minded sympathisers
were threatened with repressive laws

policed by the Holy Office
of the Inquisition,

and many of Goya's associates
come under scrutiny.

Although still employed
by the court,

Goya enjoyed the freedom
offered by private patronage

and was encouraged
by enlightened friends,

such as the intellectual
Gaspar Melchor Jovellanos

and the poet Juan Melendez Valdas,
to explore his newfound expression.

But one patron above all seemed to
have an enormous impact on his work

and became one of his closest
supporters - the Duchess of Alba.

GOYA: It would have been
worth your while

to have come and helped me paint
La Alba,

who barged into my studio yesterday
to have her face painted,

and it is now done.

I definitely prefer this
to painting on canvas,

and now I also have to do her
in full-length.

This is the Duchess of Alba,
one of Goya's most iconic portraits.

She was THE leading aristocrat
of the time.

She inherited, at the age of 12,
the Duchy of Alba,

one of the wealthiest Duchies
in Spain.

She inherited a great collection
of paintings,

including the Venus by Velazquez
but she was also very capricious,

quite difficult, quite cheeky,
quite eccentric.

She, at the same time,
was extremely beautiful,

and a French visitor,
when he came to Spain and met her,

said, "every single hair on her head
awakens desire."

Goya saw her as a muse

and I think she allowed him
to come into the palace,

look at her pictures,

but also possibly
even set up a studio.

And he spent quite a lot of time
with her down in the south of Spain,

in a place called
Sanlucar de Barrameda,

which is very likely
where she is standing.

You can see the great river
Guadalquivir coming out.

This is the great estuary
in Southern Spain,

and one of her great
sort of lands and dominions.

But this picture is the result,
I think,

of a relationship that, of course,
has created a lot of discussion,

mainly because of the
inscription below

that she apparently
has inscribed herself,

either with her foot or her finger.

She's pointing at it and it says:
'Solo Goya.' Only Goya.

And then she has two rings, one says
'Alba' and the other one 'Goya'.

And, of course, particularly
in the 19th century,

the myth began
that they were lovers,

that they had this very furious
and tempestuous relationship.

What is really intriguing
is the fact

that Goya may not have ever
delivered this portrait.

It's first recorded in his own
house, in his inventory, in 1812,

and one wonders,
did he paint it for himself,

for his own satisfaction,

or perhaps to have her
living with him in his own home?

So Goya, I think,

found in her a perfect subject

for a lot of his art, which was
based on invention and originality.

WOMAN NARRATOR: In 1793,
Spain declared war on France,

but was defeated

and was forced to make
an alliance with the new Republic.

Spain, ruptured by the hypocrisy
and corruption

of both church and state,
had to change.

A period of liberalisation ensued,

during which time Goya was appointed

Director of the Royal Academy
of Fine Art

and promoted under Charles IV

from Court Painter
to First Court Painter -

the highest position
an artist could achieve.

The patronage of Charles IV
and his wife, Maria Luisa,

led to a series of important
commissions for Goya,

that included the painting
of frescoes

for the Hermitage
of San Antonia de la Florida

on the outskirts of Madrid.

These were energetic
and dynamic renderings

of people gathered to listen
to Saint Anthony of Padua.

In 1799, he was commissioned
to paint a group portrait

of the family of Charles IV.

It became one of Goya's most
celebrated and enigmatic works,

and a prized possession
of Madrid's Prado Museum.

MAN: The Prado has this
responsibility

of looking after Goya's work
from beginning to end,

so it is the place to go to
if you want to understand Goya.

With the portraits I had to be
very careful not to over-ask.

Also aware that some pictures
just do not leave the Prado,

such as the large painting
of the family of Charles IV,

which is like Las Meninas
by Velazquez.

It's one of those sacred paintings

that you have to go to the Prado
to see. It just won't move.

WOMAN: It was a royal commission in
1800, that was related to France,

because there was a new
ambassador of France,

new relations with Napoleon,

who actually wanted to marry
the young one there.

And, in our opinion, this painting
was a very political painting

to be established
in the Royal Palace

in order to be seen
by the ambassadors,

by everybody who came
to visit the King.

The establishment of the Bourbons
as a legal monarchy of Spain,

which is established
not only by Hercules,

but also by the similarity
of this painting

with Las Meninas of Velazquez,

which is also a political painting
that establishes the crown

and the power of the King
through the little infanta.

So here is almost the same idea

with the Velazquez painting

and the Goya painting.

So, visually, in the court,
that was the same thing.

I've written once that he's probably

one of the very few
portrait painters...

..that when he looks
at the person in front of him

and has to make a portrait of him,
he doesn't see the clothes.

He sees them naked,
completely naked.

You see that there is no
frontier between the dress,

whatever the dress is,
and the person.

And it's very difficult
to get that in any other artist.

Even in Rembrandt, you see
the person, their face, their hands,

and then their clothes,

but it's difficult to imagine
how that person was. Not with Goya.

In every portrait, in every one,
you see the naked figure.

WOMAN 2: I suppose that when Goya
is asked to paint a portrait,

whether it's of a minister of state,
or the King,

or simply a close friend, one
of his great advantages, I think,

was that he could see people in the
round, he could see and understand

and sympathise with their character.

But he really had
an extraordinary grasp,

a psychological grasp
of personality.

And he was also incredibly
attentive to body language.

WOMAN NARRATOR:
The beginning of the 19th century

brought further disruption
to Spain, and the ageing Goya.

Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France,
declared war on Great Britain.

He decided to invade Spain in 1808

in an effort to control European
relationships with the British.

This caused major civil unrest,

and, indeed,
the abdication of Charles IV

in favour of his son, Ferdinand VII.

Napoleon's troops entered Madrid

and supressed an uprising
with cruel efficiency,

which was later immortalised
in two major paintings by Goya,

commissioned at the end
of the French occupation in 1814.

With Spain now under French rule,

and with Napoleon's brother,
Joseph, declared King,

Spain suffered through
a bloody 'guerrilla' war

against its new masters,
that lasted for six years.

During this period, Goya recorded
scenes of cruelty and oppression

in another major set
of etchings and aquatints

called 'The Disasters of War'.

Madrid was finally
liberated by British troops,

led by the Duke of Wellington.

Ferdinand VII thus was
restored to the Spanish throne

and Goya continued with his duties
as First Court Painter.

WOMAN: Goya's position as the Royal
portrait painter

and painter of the
aristocracy and so on,

gave him access to people
who were in power,

the wealthy aristocratic classes,

but in a way,
it also made him vulnerable,

particularly in this period
of political change,

because one minute
he was painter to the king

and then,
after the Napoleonic invasion,

he was painter to Joseph Bonaparte.

Then when the Bourbon king returned,
Ferdinand VII,

he was still painter to the King.

And in a way,
he was in a unique position,

because it gave him access
to the powers that be,

whether under French
or Spanish rule,

but it also made him
very vulnerable,

because he could have
been seen to associate

with one camp as opposed to another.

In fact, I find his portraits
not particularly political.

I mean, he had to adapt to change,

he also had to survive as a painter.
It was his role.

He doesn't seem to take
a political stance in his portraits,

and if he does so,
he does so very subtly.

I wouldn't describe Goya
as a realistic painter.

I would describe him much more
as a truthful painter

or a naturalistic painter,
because he paints nature,

he paints what is in front of him,

but he captures the essence
of what's in front of him.

He doesn't paint a frown line
where you see a frown line.

He captures the mood and,

everyone says, a psychological
intensity of his sitters,

but they are a sort of window
into these sitters.

If we take the portrait of the Duke
of Wellington, for example,

we know Wellington
sat to Goya in August 1812

when Wellington entered
Madrid victorious.

And it's thought that
the National Gallery portrait

may have been done as a live sitting
in front of the Duke.

And whether it was done
then and there,

or it was done later from a drawing,

it does have a sort of immediacy

that certainly would make one think

that it was done
in front of the live model.

You know, as a kind
of military hero.

But Goya doesn't paint
a military hero.

I mean, he's a hero
with all his medals,

but it's all about the face,
and he looks very gaunt,

he looks like he's just walked
off the battlefield, which he had,

and what Goya captures is, really,
the human side of Wellington,

and that's something you don't
see in any other portraits of him.

And in a way, it's because

there's a greater piece of Goya
in this picture

in a way, than Wellington.

I think Goya really puts
himself into his portraits.

WOMAN NARRATOR: As Goya grew older
and official commissions decreased,

he turned to his family and friends
as subjects for his portrait work.

Goya's wife, Josefa Bayeu,
had suffered many miscarriages

and given birth to six children

of which only their son, Javier,
survived to adulthood.

With the restoration
of Ferdinand VII to the throne,

Spain went through
another period of reprisals,

in which suspected
French sympathisers

were investigated
by the Holy office.

Goya, too, was questioned about the
decency of his Naked Maja painting,

privately commissioned by the former
Prime Minister Manuel Godoy,

now in exile.

Goya was cleared of the charges
and continued with his court duties,

but things had changed.

He decided to buy a house
outside of Madrid as a retreat.

The house had a name -

Quinta del Sordo
'House of the Deaf Man'.

MAN: And then he fell terribly ill
toward the end of 1819,

and that's when he paints afterwards
that wonderful portrait of himself

being held up by his doctor,
Arrieta,

a sort of ex-voto,
an offering to his doctor,

basically thanking him
for saving him.

And 1820 to 1823
is that critical moment

when he does what appears
to be his 'black' paintings,

his so-called black paintings
for that house.

Goya's near-death experience
in 1819, I'm sure,

had a tremendous effect on him
personally.

And that Quinta del Sordo,
that house,

is likely to have been
an open canvas for him

to literally put down
all the visions,

the sort of reflections
of contemporary Spain,

of people, and how
they behaved and witches Sabbaths.

Maybe it's his way
of exorcising himself,

getting it out, expressing it.

And you could see it
as a personal statement.

Unfortunately we have no idea why
he painted them, who were they for,

whether he meant that
they were to be seen or not.

All we know is he transfers
all the legal rights to that house

to his grandson,

and that he leaves for Bordeaux
in 1824

with a completely new
lease of life.

He describes himself as the
old Titian, full of creativity,

and indeed, the last four years,

he produces
some of his greatest portraits,

some of his most fantastic
lithographs,

a great series of drawings.

He's full of invention
right until the end.

WOMAN NARRATOR: Goya resigned his
post as first court painter

and decided to spend
the last years of his life

in self-imposed exile in France,

supported by his companion, Leocadia
Weiss, and her daughter, Rosario.

On the 16th of April, 1828,
in Bordeaux,

Goya suffered a paralysing stroke
and died.

MAN: Goya is, of course, well known

for those very dramatic scenes
of The Disasters of War

or the acerbic wit
of the Caprichos and so on,

so an artist who stands apart
from his society.

And he certainly is that.

But he's also much more.

I mean, in that sense, Goya really
is a very large character,

he's larger than life,
he's interested in everything,

so an artist who is extraordinarily
complex, he's a big, big figure.

And his painting is very,
very varied,

so you have those
big religious pictures,

you have big tapestry cartoons

that he's painting for
the royal palaces in Madrid,

he's also painted these tiny
miniature portraits of people

in his close circle.

He's painting these astonishing
dark, moody, frightening visions,

nightmarish visions,
for his own house,

so he's really a very big
artist, extraordinarily complex.

He's a sort of universe in himself.

MAN'S VOICE: "It is
very difficult to imitate nature,

"and a successful imitation
is worthy of admiration.

"He who departs entirely from nature
will surely merit high esteem,

"since he has to put before the eyes
of the public forms and poses

"which have only existed previously
in the darkness and confusion

"of an irrational mind,

"or one which is beset

"by uncontrolled passion."

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