Goya's statue in Bordeaux has a head, anyway
by Michael Johnson
BORDEAUX -- On daily walks through one of the big Bordeaux parks, le Jardin public, I kept noticing a large, isolated statue of a man in a frock coat grasping a top hat and frowning. One day I took a closer look and discovered that the bronze statue with the pained expression was of the aging, tormented painter Francisco Goya, the "Spanish Rembrandt" and a genius Bordeaux likes to claim as its own.
Now, at the request of Goya's admirers, the great statue — a gift from the city of Madrid — is about to be hosed down and scrubbed, and then moved from this isolated spot. By this summer, the statue will be given the prominence the great artist deserves, standing in a central square overlooking the church of Notre Dame, where Bordeaux's finest are baptized, married and honored at funerals. Goya's own funeral was held there in 1828.
Goya came to Bordeaux at the age of 78 to escape Spanish oppression and to join the thriving artistic community in what was then one of Europe's richest cities. Where there was wealth there were commissions for portraits, and Goya was a proven master.
Bordeaux still has a large Spanish population that congregates at Casa de Goya, the painter's old Bordeaux address.
Superstitious locals are wondering, however, if the statue of Goya will have a head when it is unveiled at its new location. Goya died just four years after settling here and was buried in a local cemetery. When his remains were exhumed for return to Madrid 60 years later, his head was missing...
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BORDEAUX -- On daily walks through one of the big Bordeaux parks, le Jardin public, I kept noticing a large, isolated statue of a man in a frock coat grasping a top hat and frowning. One day I took a closer look and discovered that the bronze statue with the pained expression was of the aging, tormented painter Francisco Goya, the "Spanish Rembrandt" and a genius Bordeaux likes to claim as its own.
Now, at the request of Goya's admirers, the great statue — a gift from the city of Madrid — is about to be hosed down and scrubbed, and then moved from this isolated spot. By this summer, the statue will be given the prominence the great artist deserves, standing in a central square overlooking the church of Notre Dame, where Bordeaux's finest are baptized, married and honored at funerals. Goya's own funeral was held there in 1828.
Goya came to Bordeaux at the age of 78 to escape Spanish oppression and to join the thriving artistic community in what was then one of Europe's richest cities. Where there was wealth there were commissions for portraits, and Goya was a proven master.
Bordeaux still has a large Spanish population that congregates at Casa de Goya, the painter's old Bordeaux address.
Superstitious locals are wondering, however, if the statue of Goya will have a head when it is unveiled at its new location. Goya died just four years after settling here and was buried in a local cemetery. When his remains were exhumed for return to Madrid 60 years later, his head was missing...