Majismo - History Lab https://historylab.es Fri, 20 May 2022 07:40:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Majismo - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 The game of ball https://historylab.es/the-game-of-ball/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-game-of-ball Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-juego-de-la-pelota-a-pala/ Historical amusement with a ball, possibly the predecessor of another game

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]]> Goya emphasised on the cardboard delivery invoice the large number of figures included, each occupying his exact position in the game (forward, centre-half and fullback), together with twenty-five other figures of different ages and attitudes. Pelota games, of French origin, spread throughout Spain with great success in the Basque Country, where even then every village had its own fronton. Goya depicted the specific moment of the game, when the ball, on the ground, has reached the chaza, the place where the ball stops before it reaches the winning line. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma).

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]]> Boys playing soldiers https://historylab.es/boys-playing-soldiers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=boys-playing-soldiers Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/muchachos-jugando-a-soldados/ Representation of a children's game by Goya in which the youngsters appear in the attitude of soldiers

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]]> This tapestry cartoon by Goya shows children playing at being soldiers, marching with their rifles on their shoulders and beating a drum. The animation of the lead soldier, the martial air and the childlike, graceful pride with which he faces the spectator constitute one of the highest achievements in the depiction of childhood in Goya’s entire oeuvre. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma).

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]]> The potter https://historylab.es/the-potter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-potter Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-cacharrero/ Goya portrayed this scene in which the potter was a character dedicated to selling everyday objects as merchandise during the 18th century

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]]> The complex scene depicted by Goya reflects life in the city in an everyday street manner. A Valencian cacharrero (identified by his characteristic attire) distributes merchandise on the ground that he sells to two young girls and an old woman. In the background, a carriage rushes past, with an elegant lady inside, watched by two gentlemen seated with their backs to it. Beneath this aspect of a bustling market scene lies another of unfulfilled desires: the young men in front of the vendor long for the beautiful earthenware pots, a symbol of feminine fragility, while the gentlemen seated on the straw gaze at the aristocratic lady hurrying past in her carriage. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma)

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]]> The Madrid fair https://historylab.es/the-madrid-fair/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-madrid-fair Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-feria-de-madrid/ A festive scene in 18th-century Madrid featuring a group of majos painted by Goya

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]]> This composition by Francisco de Goya shows two elegant gentlemen and a lady at a fair in Madrid approaching the stall of a vendor who is obsequiously offering his wares. The merchandise consists of metal containers, pieces of furniture, paintings, mirrors, weapons and second-hand clothes. In the background, the silhouette of the town reveals a church whose dome and towers are reminiscent of those of San Francisco el Grande. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma)

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]]> The wedding https://historylab.es/the-wedding/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wedding Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-boda/ Representation of social reality in a couple's early marital scenes

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]]> The scene, portrayed by Francisco de Goya, takes place under the arch of a stone bridge, where a wedding procession is presented in a rather unequal manner. The determined and beautiful young woman is to be married to a fat, ugly but wealthy man. The bride’s father, wearing a threadbare coat, follows the bridal party with an obliging gesture. The bride’s friends, the wenches, smile with malicious envy and the priest seems to laugh at the father, while a young man in profile, perhaps a rejected suitor, watches the procession pass by with an altered gesture. Thus Goya presents the marriages of convenience so denounced by the Enlightenment, as in Fernández de Moratín’s comedy, “El sí de las niñas” (“The Girl’s Yes”). The tapestry of this cartoon was intended for the decoration “of country and jocular matters” on the main wall of Charles IV’s office in the palatial area of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

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]]> The brawl at the Gallo’s inn https://historylab.es/the-brawl-at-the-gallos-inn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-brawl-at-the-gallos-inn Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-rina-en-el-meson-del-gallo/ Representation of social reality through the recreation of an episode of conflict between muleteers and rickshaw pullers

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]]> This work is a sketch of the tapestry cartoon entitled “Brawl at the Venta Nueva” which belongs to Goya’s second series of cartoons. The subjects depicted are of a festive nature, reflecting scenes from everyday life. The master from Zaragoza depicts a dispute between muleteers and carriage drivers at the door of the inn due to the bets on the card game that appear on the table. The scene, which is extremely violent, expresses the irrational and aggressive behaviour of human beings when money is involved. Goya has taken great care with the attitudes and gestures of the figures, indicating the role of each character, as, for example, the costumes reveal their origin or condition (the Murcian with his back turned or the Andalusian calesero), demonstrating the artist’s interest in a rigorous analysis of reality

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]]> The woodcutters https://historylab.es/the-woodcutters/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-woodcutters Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/los-lenadores/ Daily scene of three people chopping firewood, portrayed by Goya

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]]> A group of woodcutters, two of them with axes in their hands, chop down a fallen tree while another with his back to them gathers the wood. The format of the cardboard indicates that it is a composition designed for the decoration of a window shutter and is thus a companion piece to the work “Majo con guitarra” (“Majo with Guitar”). The resulting tapestry was intended for the decoration of the former bedroom of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and his wife Maria Luisa of Parma) in the Palacio del Pardo in Madrid

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]]> The sunshade https://historylab.es/the-sunshade/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-sunshade Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-quitasol/ A playful scene of two majos represented by Goya

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]]> The image represents one of the most outstanding tapestry cartoons from the artistic career of the painter Francisco de Goya. The main motif is an elegant young woman being protected from the sun by a majo with an umbrella or parasol. It may have been modelled on the work Vertumnus and Pomona by the French painter Jean Ranc, now in the Musée de Fabre (Montpellier), where Goya transformed the mythological subject into a scene from modern life. The bottom-up perspective view and its format indicate that it was intended to decorate a window shutter. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma)

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]]> The squabble at the new sale https://historylab.es/the-squabble-at-the-new-sale/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-squabble-at-the-new-sale Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-rina-en-la-venta-nueva/ Social conflict around a sale in 18th-century Spain as depicted by Goya

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]]> Tapestry cartoon depicting a brawl in front of what Goya defines as Venta Nueva. Although its walls are cracked and the cross that crowns it is tilted to one side, with a certain irony it provides a metaphorical sense of the timelessness of human violence. The inn is located at a crossroads, where a variety of characters gather, carriage drivers and muleteers whose attire reveals that they come from different parts of Spain. The golds and clubs thrown on the table indicate the motif of the fight in which the protagonists use all possible weapons (stones, sticks, knives and even a pistol). The theme of the work is reminiscent of similar compositions typical of the genre scenes of the Flemish and Dutch tradition used in the manufacture of tapestries since the 17th century. However, Goya conceived his composition with the grandeur of Italian classicism, and some of the figures and groups are even derived from classical sculpture.

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]]> The kite https://historylab.es/the-kite/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-kite Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-cometa/ Depiction of young people flying a kite by Goya

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]]> The image shows a scene of popular leisure and recreation. According to Goya, the main scene depicts a group of young people who “have gone out to the countryside to throw a kite”. In the foreground, a young man is sitting on the ground smoking, blowing smoke into the air. In the background, several couples are chatting and watching the kite fly, while the seated dog looks at the viewer. The building in the background has been interpreted as an astronomical observatory, a project that was continually discussed during the reign of Charles III. The tapestry resulting from this cartoon hung on the wall cloth between the windows of the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and his wife Maria Luisa de Parma) in the Palace of El Pardo.

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