LINGUISTICS: THE NUDE OF MAJA

THE NUDE OF MAJA Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date The Nude of Maja Francisco Goya was one of the most significant painters of his time, and because of his painting techniques, he was hired as the court painter in Spain. As a court painter, he painted a lot of Spanish royalties of that time, which are very significant to the Spanish culture to date. One of his most famous paintings is The nude of Maja, also known as La Maja Desnuda, which is dated back to early 1800, and it is a depiction of a naked woman laying back on a spread of pillows with her eye contacted fixated on the viewer (Murphy, 2010). The painting has received a lot of criticism, and it is hard for people to understand how the woman in the picture shamelessly stared at Goyo as he painted her. Because of this, it has been speculated that the woman is the painter's love, as it is the only way that the painting could make sense. Other speculations say that the 13th Duchess of Alba had a romantic affair before. In contrast, others say that the model is a composite of other women whose features have been organically grouped together to form the picture. Although the identity of The Nude Maja, by Goya, is thought to be his lover, it is a mystery due to aspects of the physical features of the painting, his melancholic personality, and art culture in the 1800s. The physical features of the painting do not give clear give backup of the two accused women that might have been drawn by Goyo. The face of the woman in the portrait does not resemble that of the duchess of Alba or the mistress. It is argued that Goyo retouched the face of the woman so that she could be unrecognizable, so as to hide the identity of the woman but through further study of the portrait, it was concluded that there was no overlap of faces (Levitine et al., 1965). The details of the portraits are well articulated, giving physical features of a woman and this is a common form of artistry, meaning that Goyo was not necessarily painting anyone they knew. Therefore, the physical feature does not imply that the portrait is associated with anyone particular but a general depiction of a woman’s body. The melancholic personality of Goyo that was caused by his illness might have influenced the painting. Due to the illness, his hearing and sight were lost, and at some moments, he could experience excess dizziness and headaches. Because of the sickness, Goya adopted a cynic personality where he becomes reserved and anxious, and his way of painting changed. The illness sometimes had hallucinations, and this inspired him to create an artwork that he envisioned during such moments. Because the painting was done during this period, it can be argued that the image was created as a result of the imaginations that he created during this period of solitude and anxiety. The painting might not have been a painting of a specific woman but a collection of composite features from different women to form the final painting (Rae, et al., 1963). The theory would make sense because Goya was married. He has also painted many other women before. Therefore, the images could have been in his head; hence, the execution could have been very easy for him (Alford, 1960). Therefore, the painting could have been an inspiration and influence from his imagination due to his sad state at the time. The art culture was passed to people through an apprenticeship where a painter learned painting by observing another experienced painter. Due to this, it would be easy for a painter to adopt the type of painting of their apprentice types of work. Goya learned his painting skills through observation and copying works of other masters (Schulz, 2002). Paintings were influenced by other works, and this is no different from The Nude of Maja. According to critics of the time, it is believed that the Goya had emulated a similar painting that Velázquez had done. The painter had done a painting called the Rokeby Venus, which depicted a mythological character, Venus, but her nudity only exposed the back (Tomlinson, 1991). From this theory, it would be logical to say that Goya made the same painting but from a frontal view. Goya had also cited that most of his work was influence by a painter like Velazquez. Therefore, it would make a lot of sense to argue that the portrait was an inspiration from previous artistry work and not from a personal influence as most critics had argued. Regardless of the art culture and Goya's melancholic state during the painting, it is hard to dismiss the fact that the painting belongs to his lover. It is speculated that apart from his wife, Goya had a mistress, Pepita Tudo, and he was lovers with the duchess of Alba, and the painting could be either of them. The painting is very detailed because the woman seems very comfortable, and she is looking directly into the eyes of the viewers, making it look she had posed for the painter (Bass & Andrews, 2016). She confidently smiles and does not like she is ashamed of being naked, and this could mean that the painter knows her personally. It would be hard to dismiss the fact that she cannot be posing like that for Goya if they did not have a sexual relationship. The name of the portrait also suggests a woman from a lower-class member with a cheeky demeanour, and this gives the reason to believe there was a sexual relationship. The details of the picture are very detailed; for example, the pubic hair on the girls shows that the art is a portrait of a real person, and this dismisses the fact that the painting could be imagination. Therefore, the artistry culture in 1800 dismisses the portrait as imagination because of the specific details in the portrait and the relations Goya had with the two speculated women he was an affair with. Conclusively, it would be accurate to state that Goya lovers did not necessarily inspire the portrait but a result of mystery in his works and the cynical personality of Goya during the period of the painting and the art culture in the 1800s. Works from other artists inspired most artists during this period, and to Goya, it was the same case. It is logical to say that the work of Velázquez inspired Goya because of the close resemblance with the Venus portrait. The same is seen in modern art culture, where people create art from the inspiration of other artists, and artists like Goya influenced this form of artistry. By looking at other works done by the artists, we can appreciate that Goya had a good imagination, and this should not make us disregard the same for The Nude of Maja. 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