Circle of Francisco de Goya

Circle of FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, 1746 - Bordeaux, France, 1828); End of the 18th century.
"Venus".
Oil on canvas glued to panel.
It presents faults and restorations on the pictorial surface.
It has damage caused by xylophages.
It conserves frame with French moulding, c. 1820.
Measurements. 15.5 x 13 cm; 25.5 x 23 cm (frame).
Mythological scene starring a woman accompanied by two little lovers, indicating that it is a representation of Venus. The artist uses a loose, impastoed brushstroke to create an impression in which the intimacy and sensuality of the scene is emphasised both by the unctuousness of the brushstroke and by the use of a bright range of colours in the case of the protagonist, whose flesh tones and silks enhance her voluptuousness, while the rest of the scene is submerged in a semi-darkness in which dense foliage can be seen. The young woman's pose is largely reminiscent of the work entitled "Allegory of Poetry", painted by Goya between 1800 and 1805. The piece, which belongs to the collection of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, was inspired by Cesare Ripa, specifically a book of emblems from 1593 that was a standard reference for artists for centuries.
One of the most outstanding painters in the entire history of universal art, Francisco de Goya received his first drawing and painting lessons from José Luzán Martínez, who taught at his home and also at the Academy of Drawing founded in Saragossa in 1754. After three years of study with this master, Goya applied for a pension from the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1763, at the age of seventeen. It seems that by then he was already a pupil of Francisco Bayeu, who had returned from court. However, Goya did not manage to get into the Academy, nor did he when he tried again in 1766. Around 1770 he undertook a trip to Italy to further his training and improve his skills. There he showed his early taste for the grotesque and satirical. After a long career, Goya was replaced as Pintor de Cámara by Vicente López, and he fell into a period of isolation, bitterness and illness which led him to seclude himself in the Quinta del Sordo, on the outskirts of Madrid, where he produced his supreme work: the Pinturas Negras (Black Paintings). Fed up with the absolutism imposed by Ferdinand VII in Spain, Goya finally left for France in 1824, where he met exiled liberal friends. He spent his last years there and produced his final work, "The Milkmaid of Bordeaux", in which he anticipated Impressionism. Today his work is part of the most important art galleries in the world, from the Prado Museum to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris and the National Gallery in London.