Jonathan Brown, Carroll Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University This is the most stimulating book on Goya to have appeared in recent years.' The meticulous reconstruction of Goya's changing world and his ability to adapt to it restores the human and historical dimensions of the artist and permits new readings of some of his major works. 'Tomlinson looks at Goya without the blinkers of old mythologies or current ideologies. It revises fundamental beliefs about Goya and his participation in a variable and sometimes violent era.' 'This will be the basic book on Goya for some years to come. Emphasizing the complexity of the context that engendered these paintings, Tomlinson demonstrates that any reading of Goya's works must acknowledge the unique circumstances of their patronage and ideology in a period of transition and ambivalence. She discusses such well-known paintings as the Family of Carlos IV, the Maja vestida and the Maja desnuda, and the Second of May and Third of May, reassessing them in relation to Goya's changing patrons: Carlos IV and María Luisa, the court favorite Manuel Godoy, the rulers of the interim regimes of the Napoleonic years, Fernando VII, and, finally, the broader public characterized by its fervid support for the conservative restoration regime. Tomlinson challenges the popular image of the artist as a figure obsessed with darkness and death by showing how Goya’s sympathy and ambition contributed to his success at court, and by offering new insights into his youth, rich family life, extensive travels and enduring friendships.Tomlinson explores the repercussions of the French Revolution in Spain as a framework for reconsidering Goya's work at mid-career.

In this revealing biography, Janis Tomlinson draws on a wide range of documents (including letters, court writings and a sketchbook used by Goya in the early years of his career) to offer a nuanced portrait of the complex and multifaceted artist, whose art is synonymous with the captivating images of the people, events and social revolution that defined his life and era. Francisco de Goya’s life (1746-1828) coincided with a transformative period in Spanish history that saw turbulence in the country’s politics and in the court of which the artist was a member, as well as social change, the devastation of the Iberian Peninsula in the war against Napoleon, and a subsequent period of instability.

Goya by Janis A. Tomlinson