The Naked Maja

The Nude Maja (La Maja Desnuda) was one of the first paintings Goya made for Prime
Minister Manuel de Godoy, one of his primary patrons. It is quite large, measuring 38 by 75
inches. The painting was acquired by the Museo del Prado in Madrid in 1910, and remains there
to this day. It is not known when exactly Goya did the painting, but most estimates date it
between 1797 and 1800, although some date it as early as 1792.The painting features an
unknown model, believed to be either Godoy's mistress Pepita Tudo, or the Duchess of Alba,
who was Goya's supposed lover. The nude woman is shown reclining on a green velvet chaise
with her arms crossed behind her head. Her voluptuous body is angled toward the viewer, and
she gazes seductively at the viewer with rosy cheeks that suggest post-coital flush. Goya broke
with conventions of the nude in depicting a real woman (not a goddess or allegorical figure) with
pubic hair, and having her look directly at the viewer; these daring details would influence later
modern artists like Manet, whose Olympia certainly owes a debt to the nude Maja.
 Francisco Goya, in full Francisco José de Goya y
Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746 in
Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain, to José Benito de Goya y
Franque and Gracia de Lucientes y Salvador, and died
on April 16, 1828, Bordeaux, France). He is a Spanish
artist whose paintings, drawings, and engravings
reflected contemporary historical upheavals and
influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters.
He is regarded as the most important Spanish artist of
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Goya occupies a unique position within the history of
Western art, and is often cited as both an Old Master
and the first truly modern artist. His art embodies Romanticism's emphasis on subjectivity,
imagination, and emotion, characteristics reflected most notably in his prints and later private
paintings. At the same time, Goya was an astute observer of the world around him, and his art
responded directly to the tumultuous events of his day, from the liberations of the Enlightenment,
to the suppressions of the Inquisition, to the horrors of war following the Napoleonic invasion.
Both for its inventiveness and its political engagement, Goya's art had an enormous impact on
later modern artists. Goya's influence extends to the 21st century, as contemporary artists have
also drawn inspiration from the artist's grotesque imagery and searing social commentary.