Zhmurki, Francisco Goya, 1789 – description of the painting

Description of the picture:

Zhmurki – Francisco Goya. 1789. Oil on canvas. 269×215; three hundred and 50 cm

   In one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four years, Goya begins working at the royal tapestry manufactory – the painter paints cardboard, which appears as a sketch for the upcoming tapestry. The painting “Zhmurki” refers specifically to this series of works written on cardboard.

   At first, the young artist was entrusted with only sketches of hunting or fishing scenes, but with the approval of King Goya began to create stories from the daily life of the Spaniards. Now anyone may be amazed that at one fine moment the painter chose the plot of the game for a new sketch, but the contemporaries of the master really adored this fun, finding it amused and amusing.

   As we see in the picture, this pastime was also not embarrassed for the aristocrats – all participants in the dancing circle are dressed in expensive clothes, which indicates their highest origin.

   Goya’s tapestry was designed to decorate the Infanta’s bedroom in the El Prado Palace, and its artistic solution shows the rococo style that was popular at that time.

   The Goya manufactory intended eighteen of its own lives and during this period of time made more than sixty paintings for tapestries. Some of these amazing tapestries have survived and are today in the Escorial castle near Madrid, and the painted cardboards have found their deserved place in the Prado Museum."