The Nude Maja

A young woman reclines fully nude on a bed of green velvet and white pillows, hands behind her head, meeting the viewer's eyes with frank, unembarrassed directness. Goya's Nude Maja was startling for its day - not a goddess or nymph but a real, contemporary woman, one of the first such nudes in Western art to gaze back so boldly. Now in the Prado, it caught the attention of the Inquisition. Goya painted a clothed version of the identical pose, also in this collection, the two apparently meant to be shown one over the other.