Francisco Goya Chronology

1746

March 30 Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes born in Fuendetodos. near Zaragoza, to Jose Francisco de Paula Goya, a master gilder, and Gracia Lucientes, from a family of minor Aragonese aristocrats

1759

Carlos III becomes king of Spain 1760 Enters the studio of Jose Luzan y Martinez in Zaragoza and learns to draw by copying the print collection of his master

1761

Replacing the Neapolitan painter Corrado Giaquinto as Principal Court Painter, the Neoclassical artist Anton Raphael Mengs arrives in Spain; he summons Goya to furnish cartoons for the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Barbara in Madrid in 1775

1762

The Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo arrives in Madrid and carries out royal commissions

1763

The painter Francisco Bayeu is called to the Spanish court by Mengs, and is accompanied there by his brother Ramon Bayeu and Goya, making his first trip to Madrid

1768-69

Returns to Zaragoza

1770-71

Travels to Italy

1771

Enters the competition of the Royal Academy at Parma in Italy, submitting a painting on the obligatory theme Hannibal Crossing the Alps; his submission is praised by the judges Opens his own studio in Zaragoza Receives his first important commission, a ceiling decoration for the small choir in the cathedral of El Pilar in Zaragoza

1773

Marries Maria Josefa Bayeu, Francisco's sister

1774

Executes a series of eleven paintings on the walls of the Carthusian monastery of Aula Dei near Zaragoza

1775

Summoned to Madrid by Mengs to work on cartoons for the Royal Tapestry Factory; he moves his family there Completes the designs of nine hunting scenes for tapestries to decorate the personal dining room of the heir to the throne, the prince of Asturias, at the Escorial

1779

Death of Mengs in Rome Petitions for the post of Court Painter but is officially denied

1780

Elected unanimously to the Royal Academy of San Fernando for his painting Christ Crucified The Royal Tapestry Factory closes due to financial difficulties caused by war with England

1783

The Infante Don Luis commissions a portrait of himself with his family The Royal Tapestry Factory reopens 1784 Goya and Josefa's son Francisco Javier is born; he is their only child of eight children to survive to adulthood

1785

Named Assistant Director of Painting at the Royal Academy of San Fernando Receives payment for the first in a series of portraits of the directors of the recently founded bank of San Carlos Paints his first portraits of the duke and duchess of Osuna, whose patronage will continue into the following decade

1786

Appointed Painter to the King, together with Ramon Bayeu

1787

Paints a series of cartoons of the Four Seasons for tapestries for the Pardo palace

1788

Death of Carlos III

1789

The prince of Asturias accedes to the throne as Carlos FV with his wife Maria Luisa as queen Carlos IV bestows on Goya the higher rank of Court Painter

1792

Bernardo de Iriarte, vice-protector of the Royal Academy of San Fernando, requests academicians to submit ideas for curricular reforms; Goya speaks against the imposition of rules for painting and of a standard curriculum to be followed by all students Manuel de Godoy, a favorite of the queen, is named prime minister Goya becomes seriously ill.

1793

Recovers from his illness but remains permanently deaf King Louis XVI of France, cousin to the king of Spain, is guillotined in France. France declares war on Spain.

1795

Succeeds Francisco Bayeu when he is appointed Director of Painting at the Royal Academy of San Fernando Death of Francisco Bayeu 1796 Goes to Andalusia for eleven months; stays with the recently widowed duchess of Alba in Sanlucar

1798

Sells six scenes of sorcery and witchcraft to the duke of Osuna Secures the commission for the fresco decoration of the church of San Antonio de la Florida in Madrid

1799

Appointed Principal Court Painter by Carlos IV Publishes his series of etchings Los Caprichos (Caprices)

1800

Paints Naked Maja, famous in his lifetime

1800-1801

Paints the group portrait of the Family of Carlos IV

1802-7

Manuel de Godoy becomes a main patron of Goya

1803

Presents the copperplates and 240 unsold sets of Los Caprichos to Carlos IV in exchange for a lifetime annuity from the crown for his son

1805

Paints Clothed Maja 1806 Goya's only grandson, Pio Mariano, is born

1808

Napoleon's forces occupy Spain, precipitating the Peninsular War as France vies for political control of the Iberian Peninsula Carlos IV is deposed in favor of his son Fernando VII In Bayonne, France, the Spanish monarchs, among them Fernando VII, are coerced to abdicate to Napoleon, who places his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne

1810

Goya begins the Disasters of War series of etchings, which is not published during his lifetime Paints a portrait of Joseph Bonaparte and is awarded the Royal Order of Spain

1812

Goya's wife, Josefa, dies; when her estate is settled, an inventory is made of the works of art Goya kept in his studio

1813

French forces are expelled from Spain

1814

Fernando VII restored to the throne after Napoleon's fall The council of regency established in Spain; Goya petitions the regency for permission to paint heroic scenes of The Second of May and The Third of May 1808 to commemorate the Spanish insurrection during the Peninsular War

1815

Goya summoned before the Inquisition on an account of obscenity for his two paintings Naked Maja and Clothed Maja

1815-16

Creates the print series the Art of Bullfighting, published in 1816

1816-23

Works on the series of etchings Disparates (Follies), first published as Los Proverhios (The Proverbs) in 1864

1819

Buys a country house, the Quinta del Sordo, outside Madrid Becomes severely ill in the winter The Prado museum is inaugurated, exhibiting to the public Goya's equestrian portraits of Carlos IV and Maria Luisa

1820

Begins the "Black Paintings" on the walls of the Quinta del Sordo

1823

Gives the Quinta del Sordo to his grandson, Mariano Fernando VII promises amnesty for the Liberals but initiates a reign of terror 1824 Goya is in hiding at the house of a friend, a Jesuit priest, prior to declaration of amnesty Obtains permission from Fernando VII to travel to France on the pretext of his poor health. Stays with his good friend Leandro Fernandez de Moratin, in self-imposed exile in Bordeaux Goes to Paris, and then returns to Bordeaux, where he resides with Dona Leocadia Zorrilla de Weiss and her daughter, Rosario (perhaps Goya's child)

1825

The lithograph series Bulls of Bordeaux is published in Bordeaux Goya is very ill in the spring Fernando VII consents to an extension of his leave

1826

Goya arrives in Madrid to petition the king in person and is granted permission to retire with full pension

1827

Visits Madrid again, returning to Bordeaux

1828

His son's wife and his grandson arrive in Bordeaux to find Goya near death. He dies at 2:00 a.m. on April 16. He is buried in Bordeaux; at the turn of the century his remains are exhumed and moved to Madrid to the Pantheon of Illustrious Men of the Sacramental Cemetery of San Isidro. He is finally interred in the church of San Antonio de la Florida in 1929