Tapestry following the cardboard of Francisco de Goya; Miguel Stuyck, late 20th century.

Tapestry following the cardboard of FRANCISCO DE GOYA; Miguel Stuyck, late 20th century.
"Boys playing soldiers".
Three-thread wool.
Signed "Miguel Stuyck" in the lower right corner. Measurements: 107 x 150 cm.
Handmade on a high-warp loom, it has a simple border framing the central composition, clearly inspired by one of the cartons designed by Goya for the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Barbara, which was (and is currently) in Madrid. Specifically, it is the cartoon entitled "Boys playing soldiers", today preserved in the Prado Museum and made by the master for a tapestry of overdoor (hence its size) that would be in the bedroom of the Princes of Asturias (future Charles IV, and Maria Luisa de Parma) in the Palace of El Pardo, along with others of the same series, made this between 1778 and 1779.
The Stuyck family, given their experience in the art of weaving, would take over from the master directors brought directly from Flanders to the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid. The Stuycks would exercise the artistic direction from the 18th century until the dawn of the 21st century. It was in 1786 when Miguel Stuyck, a descendant of Jacobo, asked the king for permission for his nephew to weave "Turkish" carpets (knotted, not woven like a tapestry). These first carpets will be in the Charles IV style, a language very indebted to French classicism, with Hispanic touches and sometimes certain influences of the Empire style.