
The Nude Maja
1800 · El Prado, Madrid
Not a goddess but a real woman looking straight back, which is why the Inquisition took an interest. Goya painted a clothed version too.
★ 7.6

Not a goddess but a real woman looking straight back, which is why the Inquisition took an interest. Goya painted a clothed version too.

Goya put himself at an easel in the shadows, as Velázquez had, and painted the royal family looking vacant, pompous or merely plain.

The same woman, same cushions, same pose, now dressed. It is thought to have hung in front of the nude and slid aside.