Men Reading

Painting by Francisco de Goya

Men Reading

Spanish: Hombres leyendo
Artist| Francisco Goya
Year| c. 1820–1823
Medium| Oil on gesso transferred to linen
Dimensions| 125.3 cm × 65.2 cm (49.3 in × 25.7 in)
Location| Museo del Prado, Madrid

Men Reading or The Reading (Spanish: La Lectura) or Politicians are names given[1] to a fresco painting likely completed between 1820 and 1823[2] by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It is one of Goya's 14 Black Paintings (Pinturas negras) painted late in his life when, living alone in physical pain, spiritual torment and disillusionment with the political direction of Spain, he painted 14 bleak, agonised frescoes onto the walls of the Quinta del Sordo (House of the deaf man), the house he was living in alone outside Madrid.

As with the others in the series, it was transferred to canvas in 1873–74 under the supervision of Salvador Martínez Cubells, a curator at the Museo del Prado. The owner, Baron Emile d'Erlanger, donated the work to the Spanish state in 1881, and they are now on display at the Prado.[3]

## Description

[edit]

Men Reading shows a group of six men huddled together reading a printed page held in the lap of a seated central figure. Although it is not known for certain, they are often thought to be politicians reading, and passing comments on a newspaper article about themselves. Goya most likely placed the work on a smaller wall of the first floor of the Quinto, next to its companion piece Women Laughing and opposite The Dog and Two Old Men Eating Soup.[4]

Women Laughing is often seen as a companion work, a feminine counterpart to Men Reading

X-ray reveals that the image was dramatically altered before Goya settled on what is now on the canvas. At some stage a landscape in the background showed a mounted rider. At one point, the central figure in white had large horns, or possibly bird wings, seemingly growing out of his head.[5] From studying the x-rays, art historian Carmen Garrido discovered that the centre of the image contained a large white lead impasto beginning at the head of the man looking upwards, and that "both the part on top of the impasto and that which is level with the rest of the painting are identical, and have neither the texture nor the normal structure of the authentic brushstrokes of the painter."[5]

Thematically and stylistically, it shares characteristics with another work from the Black Paintings series, Women Laughing. Both are vertical rather than horizontal and smaller in scale than the other works. Both are thematically less dark than the other works in the series, although they are chromatically darker.[6] Both are lit by identical light falling from the upper left of the pictorial space. Women Laughing shows two hags mocking a man in the act of masturbating, while in Men Reading, according to writer Francisco-Xavier de Salas Bosch, "the incessant talk of the politicians...was perhaps, in Goya’s eyes, as sterile as the solitary pleasure which the women are making fun of."[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Goya did not title any of the works in this series, the name come variously from his children, art historians, restorers, curators
2. ^ Licht, 159
3. ^ Hughes, 16–17
4. ^ Junquera, 43
5. ^ a b Junquera, 78
6. ^ Fernández, G. "Goya: The Black Paintings". theartwolf.com, August 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
7. ^ de Salas Bosch

## Bibliography

[edit]

* de Salas Bosch, Francisco-Xavier. Goya. NY:Mayflower Books, 1978. ISBN 0-289-70887-7
* Junquera, Juan José. The Black Paintings of Goya. London: Scala Publishers, 2008. ISBN 1-85759-273-5
* Hughes, Robert. Goya. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. ISBN 0-394-58028-1
* Licht, Fred. Goya: The Origins of the Modern temper in Art. Universe Books, 1979. ISBN 0-87663-294-0

## External links

[edit]

* Digital tour of the Quinta del Sordo
* Media related to Hombres leyendo (Goya) at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Francisco Goya

List of works

Paintings|

* Consecration of Aloysius Gonzaga as Patron Saint of Youth (c. 1763)
* The Holy Family with Saints Joachim and Anne (c. 1769)
* The Victorious Hannibal Seeing Italy from the Alps for the First Time (1770–1771)
* The Rape of Europa (1772)
* Christ Crucified (1780)
* The Greasy Pole (1786–87)
* The Drunk Mason (1786–1787)
* Paintings for the alameda of the Dukes of Osuna (1786–1787)
* Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Curing a Cripple (1787)
* Yard with Lunatics (1793–1794)
* Prison Interior (1793–1794)
* Assault of Thieves (1793–1794)
* The Duchess of Alba and la Beata (1795)
* Witches' Flight (1797–1798)
* The Bewitched Man (1797–1798)
* Witches' Sabbath (1798)
* La maja desnuda (c. 1797–1800)
* La maja vestida (1800–1805)
* Allegory of Industry (c. 1805)
* Majas on a Balcony (c. 1808–1812)
* The Water Bearer (1808–1812)
* The Knifegrinder (1808–1812)
* Still Life of a Lamb's Head and Flanks (1808–1812)
* The Colossus (after 1808)
* Allegory of the City of Madrid (1810)
* Truth, Time and History (1812–1814)
* The Madhouse (1812–1819)
* The Inquisition Tribunal (1812–1819)
* The Second of May 1808 (1814)
* The Third of May 1808 (1814)
* The Junta of the Philippines (1815)
* A Village Bullfight (1815–1819)
* The Burial of the Sardine (c. 1816)
* A Procession of Flagellants (c. 1816)
* The Forge (c. 1817)
* Bullfight (1824)

| Murals|

* Adoration of the Name of God (1772)
* Life of the Virgin (1774)

|

Portraits|

* The Family of the Infante Don Luis (1783–84)
* The Duke and Duchess of Osuna and their Children (1787–88)
* Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga (The Red Boy) (c. 1788)
* Self-Portrait at an Easel (c. 1790–1795)
* La Tirana (1792)
* La Tirana (1794)
* The Marquise de la Solana (1795)
* The White Duchess (1795)
* Charles IV (c. 1795)
* The Black Duchess (1797)
* Bernardo de Iriarte (1797)
* Ferdinand Guillemardet (1798–1799)
* Charles IV in his Hunting Clothes (1799)
* Maria Luisa of Parma (1799–1800)
* The Countess of Chinchon (1800)
* Charles IV of Spain and His Family (1800–18)
* Manuel Godoy (1801)
* Doña Isabel de Porcel (1804–1805)
* The Marchioness of Santa Cruz (1805)
* Doña Antonia Zárate (1805)
* Doña Antonia Zárate (1810–1811)
* The Duke of Wellington (1812)
* Josefa Bayeu (1814–1816)
* Ferdinand VII (1815)
* Self-Portrait at 69 years (1815)
* Juan Antonio Cuervo (1819)
* Self-Portrait with Dr Arrieta (1820)
* Don Ramón Satué (1823)
* The Milkmaid of Bordeaux (1825–1827)

Tapestry
cartoons
(list)|

* The Boar Hunt (1775)
* The Parasol (c. 1777)
* Boys Playing Soldiers (1778–79)
* Children in a Chariot (1779)
* The Swing (1779)
* La novillada (1780)
* The Grape Harvest (1786)
* The Threshing Floor (1786)
* Summer (1786–87)
* The Drunk Mason (1786–1787)
* Blind Man's Bluff (1789)
* The Wedding (1791–92)

Black Paintings
(c. 1819–1823)|

* Saturn Devouring His Son
* Judith and Holofernes
* Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat)
* A Pilgrimage to San Isidro
* La Leocadia
* Two Old Men
* Men Reading
* Man Mocked by Two Women
* Fight with Cudgels
* Pilgrimage to the Fountain of San Isidro
* Atropos
* Asmodea
* Two Old Ones Eating Soup
* The Dog

Print series|

| Los Caprichos (1797–98)|

* And So Was His Grandfather
* The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

|

The Prisoners (1810–1815)|

The Disasters of War (1810–1820)|

* This is worse (c. 1812–13)

La Tauromaquia (1815–16)|

* Unfortunate events in the front seats of the ring of Madrid, and the death of the mayor of Torrejón (1815-1816)

Los Disparates (1815–1823)|

* A way of flying (c. 1815–16)

The Bulls of Bordeaux (1824–25)|

Museums|

* Casa natal de Goya (Fuendetodos)
* Museo del Grabado de Goya (Fuendetodos)
* Museo Goya (Zaragoza)
* Goya Museum (Castres)

Depictions|

* The Naked Maja (1958 film)
* Goya, a Story of Solitude (1971 film)
* Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment (1971 film)
* Goya: A Life in Song (1989 album)
* Goya in Bordeaux (1999 film)
* Volavérunt (1999 film)
* Goya's Ghosts (2006 film)
* The Ministry of Time – Episode 25: Time of the Enlightened (2017)

Related|

* Josefa Bayeu (wife)
* Quinta del Sordo
* Leocadia Zorrilla
* Rosario Weiss Zorrilla
* Goya Awards
* Goyescas (1915 opera)
* Goyescas (1942 film)

* v
* t
* e

Museo del Prado

Buildings

* Villanueva building
* Casón del Buen Retiro
* Hall of Realms
* Cloister of Saint Jerome

Paintings

| Spanish|

* Esquivel: José de Espronceda
* Gisbert: Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga
* Goya: Allegory of Industry – Asmodea – Atropos – Blind Man's Bluff – Boys Playing Soldiers – Charles IV of Spain and His Family – Los caprichos – Christ Crucified – The Clothed Maja – The Colossus – The Countess of Chinchon – Los disparates – The Dog – The Drunk Mason – The Duchess of Alba and la Beata – Fight with Cudgels – Josefa Bayeu – Judith and Holofernes – La Leocadia – Man Mocked by Two Women – La novillada – Portrait of the Marchioness of Santa Cruz – Men Reading – The Milkmaid of Bordeaux – The Naked Maja – The Parasol – A Pilgrimage to San Isidro – Pilgrimage to the Fountain of San Isidro – Saturn Devouring His Son – The Second of May 1808 – Self-Portrait at 69 years – Summer – The Third of May 1808 – Two Old Men – Two Old Ones Eating Soup – The Victorious Hannibal Seeing Italy from the Alps for the First Time – Witches' Flight – Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat)
* El Greco: The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest – Adoration of the Shepherds – Doña María de Aragón Altarpiece – Annunciation – Christ Carrying the Cross – The Fable – The Flight into Egypt – Holy Face of Jesus – Holy Trinity – Julián Romero and Saint Julian – Portrait of a Doctor – Portrait of a Gentleman – Portrait of a Young Nobleman – Portrait of an Elderly Man – Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman – Portrait of Jerónimo de Cevallos – Portrait of Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce – Saint Andrew and Saint Francis – Saint Anthony of Padua – Saint Bernardino of Siena [1] – Saint James the Great – Saint John the Evangelist – Saint Paul – Saint Sebastian – Saint Thomas the Apostle – Holy Trinity – The Saviour – Virgin Mary
* Luna: The Death of Cleopatra
* Maíno: Adoration of the Magi – Portrait of a Gentleman – The Recovery of Bahía de Todos los Santos
* Murillo: Adoration of the Shepherds (1650) – Aranjuez Immaculate Conception – The Christ Child and the Infant John the Baptist with a Shell – Christ on the Cross (1675, 1677) – The Conversion of Saint Paul – The Good Shepherd – The Holy Family with a Little Bird – The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial – The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables – The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew – Our Lady of the Rosary – The Patrician's Dream – Rebecca and Eleazar
* Pradilla: Doña Joanna the Mad
* Ribera: Jacob's Dream – Democritus – Isaac and Jacob – Ixion – Tityos – The Martyrdom of Saint Philip – The Blind Sculptor
* Sánchez Gallque: The Mulattos of Esmeraldas [2]
* Velázquez: Las Meninas – The Triumph of Bacchus – Las Hilanderas – The Surrender of Breda – Mars Resting – Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV – Equestrian Portrait of Elisabeth of France – Equestrian Portrait of Prince Balthasar Charles – Equestrian Portrait of Philip III – Equestrian Portrait of Margarita of Austria – Equestrian Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares – Adoration of the Magi – Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan – Christ Crucified – Coronation of the Virgin – View of the Garden of the Villa Medici – Prince Balthasar Charles as a Hunter – Portrait of the Infante Don Carlos – Doña Antonia de Ipeñarrieta y Galdós and Her Son Don Luis – The Jester Barbarroja – The Jester Calabacillas – The Jester Don Diego de Acedo – The Jester Don John of Austria – Portrait of Francisco Lezcano – Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Pink Dress – Portrait of Maria Anna – Portrait of Juan Martínez Montañés – The Nun Jerónima de la Fuente – Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid – Portrait of Philip IV in Armour – Portrait of Mariana of Austria – Portrait of Sebastián de Morra
* Zurbarán: Agnus Dei – The Death of Hercules – The Defence of Cádiz Against the English – Hercules and the Hydra – Hercules Separates Mounts Calpe and Abylla – Hercules Fighting the Nemean Lion – Saint Elizabeth of Portugal – Saint Luke Painting the Crucifixion – Saint Peter Nolasco's Vision of Saint Peter the Apostle – Still Life with Pots – The Vision of Saint Peter Nolasco

|

Dutch,
Flemish,
German|

* Anonymous: The Fountain of Life
* Baldung: The Ages and Death
* Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights – Adoration of the Magi – Cutting the Stone – The Haywain Triptych – Head of a Halberdier – The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things – The Temptation of St Anthony
* Bouts: Triptych with Scenes from the Life of the Virgin
* Bruegel the Elder: The Triumph of Death – The Wine of Saint Martin's Day – Excursion in the Countryside of Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia – Life in the Countryside – The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia in the Mariemont Park (with de Momper) – Landscape (with de Momper) – The Five Senses (with Rubens)
* Campin: Marriage of the Virgin – Werl Triptych
* de Crayer: Caritas Romana (1625)
* David: Rest on the Flight into Egypt
* Dürer: Adam and Eve – Self-Portrait
* van Dyck: Self-portrait with Sir Endymion Porter – The Betrayal of Christ – The Brazen Serpent – Diana and a Nymph Surprised by a Satyr – Saint Rosalia – The Crowning with Thorns
* van Hemessen: The Surgeon
* Francken the Younger: The Sciences and the Arts
* Jordaens: Apollo as Victor over Pan – Meleager and Atalanta – The Painter's Family
* Memling: Adoration of the Magi
* Mengs: Portrait of José Nicolás de Azara
* de Momper: Landscape with Sea and Mountains – A Farm – Flemish Market and Washing Place – Landscape with Skaters – The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia in the Mariemont Park (with Brueghel the Elder) – Landscape (with Brueghel the Elder)
* Patinir: Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx
* Rembrandt: Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes
* Rubens: The Judgement of Paris (1638) – The Three Graces – Adoration of the Magi – The Dance of the Villagers – Diana and Callisto – Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma – The Fall of Man – The Garden of Love – The Birth of the Milky Way – The Rape of Europa – The Rape of Ganymede – Saint George and the Dragon – Saturn – The Triumph of the Church – Deucalion and Pyrrha – The Five Senses (with Brueghel the Elder)
* Stom: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
* Strobel: Feast of Herod with the Beheading of St John the Baptist
* Teniers the Younger: Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Painting Gallery in Brussels (1651)
* Verhaecht: Alpine Landscape
* van der Weyden: The Descent from the Cross – Durán Madonna

Italian|

* Fra Angelico: Annunciation
* Anguissola: Portrait of Elisabeth of Valois – Portrait of Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia [3] – Portrait of Giovanni Battista Caselli
* Barocci: Nativity
* Bellini: Madonna and Child with Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Ursula
* Botticelli: The Story of Nastagio Degli Onesti, part one
* Caravaggio: David and Goliath
* Carracci: Assumption of the Virgin – Mural Paintings from the Herrera Chapel – Venus, Adonis and Cupid
* Correggio: Noli me tangere – Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist
* A. Gentileschi: The Birth of Saint John the Baptist
* O. Gentileschi: The Finding of Moses (1633)
* Leonardo: Mona Lisa (by his studio)
* Lotto: Portrait of Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride Faustina
* Mantegna: Death of the Virgin
* Parmigianino: Holy Family with Angels – Portrait of Camilla Gonzaga and Her Three Sons – Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo – Saint Barbara
* Raphael: Portrait of a Cardinal – Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary – Madonna of the Rose – Visitation – La Perla (with Romano)
* Romano: Holy Family under an Oak Tree
* Andrea del Sarto: Sacrifice of Isaac
* Tintoretto: Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet – Joseph and Potiphar's Wife – Judith and Holofernes (by his studio) – The Washing of the Feet
* Tiepolo: The Immaculate Conception
* Titian: The Bacchanal of the Andrians – Equestrian Portrait of Charles V – The Fall of Man – Alfonso d'Avalos Addressing his Troops – Danaë Receiving the Golden Rain (1565) – The Entombment – La Gloria – Virgin and Child Between Saints Anthony of Padua and Roch – Mater Dolorosa with Clasped Hands – Philip II in Armour – Portrait of Charles V with a Dog – Portrait of Federico II Gonzaga – Portrait of Isabella of Portugal – Sisyphus – Tityus – Religion saved by Spain – Salome \- Self-Portrait (1567) – Saint Margaret and the Dragon – Venus and Adonis (1554) – Venus and Musician (1550, 1555) – The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Dorothy – The Worship of Venus
* Veronese: Venus and Adonis – Christ Among the Doctors – The Finding of Moses

French|

* Anonymous: Agony in the Garden
* Baudry: The Pearl and the Wave
* van Loo: The Family of Philip V (1743)
* Lorrain: Landscape with St Paula of Rome Embarking at Ostia – The Ford – Landscape with St María de Cervelló – Landscape with the Burial of St Serapia – Landscape with the Finding of Moses – Landscape with the Temptation of St Anthony – Landscape with Tobias and Raphael
* Poussin: Parnassus – Landscape with Three Figures – Saint Cecilia
* Ranc: The Family of Philip V (1723) – Portrait of Ferdinand VI as a Boy
* Watteau: Marriage Contract and Country Dancing
* Vouet: Time Defeated by Love, Beauty and Hope

Other|

* British paintings

Sculptures

| Rome|

* The Apotheosis of Claudius
* Castor and Pollux

|

* [1] On display at El Greco Museum in Toledo
* [2] On display at Museo de América in Madrid
* [3] On display at the Spanish Embassy in Paris

* Category

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