Goya and the Duchess of Alba

Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting!
Review: This book is really very interesting. The angle the author takes on Goya's works is refreshing as the focus these days tends to be his etchings of war scenes. The text is well written and the paintings are gorgeous. Anyone interested in the story of a painter living in a turbulent time, a man tangled up in all sorts of intrigues, as well as an artist without compare would love this book!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting theories, but still nothing definitive
Review: This is one of those books that are worth taking a few hours to read even though they leave a lot of questions unanswered. The author has pulled together the leading theories that are out there about Goya's relationship with the Duchess of Alba, and while she hasn't made any shocking new discoveries, readers now have enough material to come to their own conclusions. Some facets of life in Goya's Spain I think the author does an especially good job of shedding light on, such as the dominant role of women and the submissiveness of their lovers (and of men in general) in aristocratic circles in eighteenth-century Spain. Her painting of morality at the Spanish court as Goya knew it is also eye-opening.

What I don't like about this book, however, is the amount of speculation in it, which seems to me, at least, to be a little reckless. I understand that it's very tempting to say that the Duchess of Alba (like majas, witches, and madmen) is a recurring theme in Goya's work, but Waldmann (or the commentators she is summarizing) seems to want to say that every dark-haired woman that Goya ever came up with was the Duchess of Alba. It's fun to speculate that Goya was obsessed with her, but face it--we really can't proove anything. A lot of people have wondered whether or not the Duchess was the model for "The Nude Maja" and "The Clothed Maja". Waldmann goes so far as to suggest that the Duchess of Alba commissioned the paintings herself. This is a fascinating idea, but it's one example of the kind of cavalier statements the author is willing to make--cavalier because she doesn't offer one shred of evidence to support the idea that the Duchess ordered the paintings.

An interesting and useful study, but leave room for forming your own opinions.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting theories, but still nothing definitive
Review: This is one of those books that are worth taking a few hours to read even though they leave a lot of questions unanswered. The author has pulled together the leading theories that are out there about Goya's relationship with the Duchess of Alba, and while she hasn't made any shocking new discoveries, readers now have enough material to come to their own conclusions. Some facets of life in Goya's Spain I think the author does an especially good job of shedding light on, such as the dominant role of women and the submissiveness of their lovers (and of men in general) in aristocratic circles in eighteenth-century Spain. Her painting of morality at the Spanish court as Goya knew it is also eye-opening.

What I don't like about this book, however, is the amount of speculation in it, which seems to me, at least, to be a little reckless. I understand that it's very tempting to say that the Duchess of Alba (like majas, witches, and madmen) is a recurring theme in Goya's work, but Waldmann (or the commentators she is summarizing) seems to want to say that every dark-haired woman that Goya ever came up with was the Duchess of Alba. It's fun to speculate that Goya was obsessed with her, but face it--we really can't proove anything. A lot of people have wondered whether or not the Duchess was the model for "The Nude Maja" and "The Clothed Maja". Waldmann goes so far as to suggest that the Duchess of Alba commissioned the paintings herself. This is a fascinating idea, but it's one example of the kind of cavalier statements the author is willing to make--cavalier because she doesn't offer one shred of evidence to support the idea that the Duchess ordered the paintings.

An interesting and useful study, but leave room for forming your own opinions.