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Article: The enduring deception of Francisco Goya.(Art)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- October 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SHAKESPEARE WAS WILLING and able wondrously to dissemble and embellish the Tudors' ascent to the throne, but later generations saw through the splendidly lettered curtain, and now we know otherwise. We have also seen through Jacques Louis David's magnificent effort and know that it was a mule and not a noble stallion that carried the Corsican over the Alps to victory at Marengo; but the disconcertingly naive ruse contrived by Francisco Goya to survive the troubles of post-Napoleonic Spain endures to this day.
Contrary to popular belief, there can be no doubt that on the third of May, 1808, when the French soldiers in the deservedly famous painting were firing on ...