In this article you will discover where to see Francisco de Goya’s works without leaving Zaragoza.
Goya had a very special relationship with Zaragoza although he was born in the town of Fuendetodos (44 kilometers from Zaragoza) in 1746, while his father, José Goya, worked gilding the main altarpiece of the parish church. When he was still very young, he moved with his family to Zaragoza. He trained in the workshop of José Luzán and in that of his brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu.
In 1769 he went to Rome and upon his return Goya developed what would be his first great artistic stage as a “religious painter”, making numerous paintings in churches in Zaragoza and its surroundings, both murals and canvases.
This is a selection of some of the places to see Goya’s works:
- Zaragoza Museum
- Goya Museum
- LA CARTUJA DE AULA DEI
- Hermitage de la vierge De la Fuente (Muel)
- Fuendetodos
Zaragoza Museum
The Museum of Zaragoza, in the heart of the city in the Plaza de los Sitios, houses the most complete collection of Goya in Aragon. Among the works on display there are several works on deposit owned by the Prado Museum. In the rooms dedicated to the Aragonese painter there is a wide representation of all the stages of the painter, emphasizing especially his court painting.
Goya Museum
The Goya Museum – Ibercaja Camón Aznar Foundation Collection is one of the museums you should visit to learn about the figure of the genius of Fuendetodos in Aragon.
Cartuja del Aula Dei
Founded in 1564 by Don Hernando de Aragon, brother of Ferdinand II of Aragon the Catholic.
The church of the Carthusian monastery was decorated by Goya in 1774, forming a cycle of eleven oil paintings on canvas of which only seven remain today.
Hermitage de la vierge De la Fuente (Muel)
In 1772, Goya decorated the pendentives of the chapel of the Virgen de la Fuente de Muel, located less than 30 kilometers from Zaragoza. They depict the figures of the four Fathers of the Church: St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Jerome.
Fuendetodos
In Fuendetodos, about 50 kilometers from Zaragoza, you can visit the modest farmhouse where Goya was born in 1746. You can also visit the Goya Print Museum, inaugurated in 1989. It houses four series of engravings by Goya: Los caprichos, Los desastres de la guerra, La tauromaquia and Los disparates.
