Title of Artwork: “Two Old Men / Two Monks / An Old Man and a Monk”
Artwork by Francisco Goya
Year Created 1821-1823
Summary of Two Old Men / Two Monks / An Old Man and a Monk
A painting by Francisco Goya, titled “Two Old Men,” is also known as “Two Monks” or “An Old Man and a Monk” in Spanish. It was painted between 1819 and 1823. Going into his seventies at the time, Goya was frail, with mental and physical ailments. In 1819, he purchased the house known as “The House of the Deaf Man” (Quinta del Sordo) and began painting on the interior walls of the property.
All About Two Old Men / Two Monks / An Old Man and a Monk
Two elderly men in friar’s robes stand in front of a black background in this photograph. There is a tall, gray-haired gentleman in front of me. Perhaps he is a representation of the god of time, Chronos. Another person with an animal-like face stands in his path. If Goya’s deafness is an allusion to this figure’s shouting into his companion’s ear, then so be it
Between the two, there is a clear distinction in how they have been depicted. Bearded man resting on walking stick recalls Velázquez’s philosophers depicted by Goya, which were copied by the Spaniard. His monstrous companion, on the other hand, bears striking resemblance to the friars depicted in Goya’s Caprichos and Disparates.
Nobody else was ever meant to see the Black Paintings. Judith and Holofernes shared a first-floor room with two Old Men. Salvador Martnez Cubells, a curator at the Museo del Prado, oversaw the painting’s transfer to canvas between 1873 and 1874. They were donated to Spain in 1881 by the Baron Emile d’Erlanger, and are now on display in the Museo del Prado.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
