RealGoya

It is not known with certainty how many children had Goya. There are some who claimthat seven children, and some, such as Guillermo Díaz Plaja, assert that they were twenty!(see “Goya en sus Cartas y otros escritos”. Heraldo de Aragón, Zaragoza, 1980. Page 28)Ansón says and collect eight children, and says that “all of them (Antonio, Eusebio, Vicente, a premature, María del Pilar, Francisco de Paula, Andrés and Francisco Javier) died at birth or being very children, except the last, Javier Goya and Bayeu, born on December 4th, 1784, who was the heir of the painter”.

Of course, children made with his wife Josefa (Pepa) Bayeu Subías, sister of Francisco, Ramon and fray Manuel.

Equally, Anson says that “the parents of Goya had a house in Zaragoza in MoreríaCerrada Street, in the parish of San Gil, until 1762. Being the house seized for debts, they had to move to another for rent in the Coso, against the so-called Rocks of the Coso, and years later to another in the street and square of San Miguel”.

Goya marries Josefa Bayeu, in Madrid, July 25th, 1773, in the parish church of SanMartin. The marriage lives in Zaragoza, their city, in which is born their first-born son, male, on August 29th, 1774. The day of his birth will be baptized in the parish of San Miguel de los Navarros, and ‘godparented’ by sculptor Carlos Salas.

The corresponding certificate of baptism is preserved in the archive of the parish of San Miguel de los Navarros, in Book 9 of the aforementioned file.

Whose transcription says as follows:

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Down, in the same sheet in which has photocopied the certificate of baptism, is stamped aseal of the parish of San Miguel Q. S. D. of Zaragoza and over it, the signing of the parish priest, Don Fernando Arregui.

“Q. S. D.” (“Quis Sictvi (or Sicut) Deus”) means ´Who As God?’

Looking at the document, one can wonder about the figure of the godfather, Don Carlos Salas, and his undoubted great relationship with the parents of the newborn.

Besides, such closely character related to Goya is none other than the sculptor Carlos Salas Viraseca (Barcelona, 1728 – Zaragoza, March 30th, 1780), with which Francisco de Goya has ample relationship after coincide both in the work of the Pilar and, more specifically in their jobs -barely thirty meters from the other- in the posterior part of the Holy Chapel of mentioned Temple. Goya painted the fresco of the Regina Martirum and Carlos Salas had sculpted a work that F. Abbad Ríos described in “La Seo y el Pilar de Zaragoza” Ed. Plus-Ultra, Madrid, in the following way:

“In the back (of the Holy Chapel), and behind the altars, Carlos Salas carved a magnificent high-relief of the Assumption of the Virgin. At the top, Maria rises to the sky, sitting on clouds surrounded by angels. And at the bottom, the Apostles, around the empty grave, love her and stare at the mystery. This work was such a success that was thought to make it the main altar of the basilica and remove Forment’s altarpiece; but, fortunately, that idea was not carried out. Carlos Salas (*) is an understudied and,therefore, poorly known artist, who worked a lot in Aragon and Catalonia. This is surely his capital work; one of the most beautiful of the Spanish pre-neoclassicism.”

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Goya was born in Fuendetodos (Zaragoza) on Wednesday, March 30^th 1746. And he did so under the igneous sign of Aries, that astrologically ‘governs’ the head area in individuals. In Goya there is no doubt of this predominance in its body structure.

Aries corresponds to the element Fire, which attributed the qualities of Energy, both in overcoming as in the constant search for new goals and risks. Fire is the most active and impulsive Zodiac element, applied in the natives a great self affirmation and thrust. Makes people aggressive, mark tireless beings, more than often wrathful, because they will want to be always the first in everything.

Goya’s Astrological Chart

The planets mark an attitude:

If little was the influence of the corresponding element Fire that identifies him, let’s know through the analysis of their birth Planets (see graph of astrological chart) what tell us about his personality:

We see its Sun’s birth in the seasoned sign of Aries, which is accompanied by three more Planets with great power: Venus, Mercury and Mars respectively.

Venus means ‘harmony and beauty’, Mercury ‘intelligence, the nervous system and reflexes’, Mars ‘combativeness, confrontations and even accidents’.

Being “combined” in its own sign, raises greatly its power over the life of the individual.

Recognized are the attributes of these Planets in the personality of Goya, even the appearance of the unbridled combativeness. All these Planets are extraordinarily empowered in the Fire sign of Aries. Even more, bodily the head governs in humans (paradoxically the amputation and disappearance of his head). Creating in this case an energetic set that, at the level of brain, will enhance the subject to extreme lengths in its action. Passion, struggle, creativity, intellect, come together in a ‘totum revolutum’ that seeks its tangible expression of a fierce and bitter way.

In addition, this planetary ‘set’, receives some strong aspects from other Planets. It is the case of Jupiter, the ‘expander‘, which offers a very positive aspect that helps in life for obtaining support and material benefits, especially abroad. The Moon’s birth, of vital importance to know the mentality of an individual, is located on the sign that governs Cancer, together with the planet of the psyche, Neptune.

The Moon symbolizes the maternal, childhood, home, the changes, the feminine side of life. The “gaseous” planet Neptune besides it, creates a high degree of confusion in the native and of no strength in these aspects, although reinforces the idealism and search for them. It creates difficult stages in childhood, where desire and reality move in a difficult whirlwind to control and assimilate. Sure situations that Goya lived in his childhood. But the driving force of his natal sign Aries, as long as he was growing, was forging a firm and hard character. Aries is the sign of the Warrior, the ‘wrestler of the Zodiac’. These people will never go unnoticed to others. For them if there is no struggle and confrontation, even if it’s only dialectic, they themselves promote it. They want and need their intentions and interests to materialize quickly, being very demanding with each other and with themselves.

His Planet Mercury in Aries makes Goya everything that his eyes see inspires him. His Planet Pluto, mythological Hades God of the underworld, connected with a strong appearance of idealists and psychic Neptune, lies in the mysterious sign of Scorpio. This sign is associated with all the unseen, to the deeper areas of our psyche. In Goya enhance capacity and need to “bring to light” all messages that are cooked in this `mental athanor’. The deaths, the underworld, the most ancestral fear of men are captured on the canvas with total mastery. The most varied torments of humanity, many often hidden within us, come to light with ‘chiaroscuro’ images. These planetary aspects demonstrate that Goya lived in first person those emotions, giving a special dye to his character.

When born, his natal Uranus, planet associated with the unexpected changes that do not depend on the native, stood in the sign making it stronger, Aquarium. This increases his overwhelming power doing that the subject lives many extreme situations that mark his life and his work.

Chronos, the God of Time, represented by the planet Saturn, is at birth also in a site of exaltation. The idea of Goya that ‘time devours his children’ is a purely “Saturn’s” vision of this native celestial influence. The “specific weight” of this planet in Goya is so great, will mark constantly its hard and up to rough relationship and communication with the environment and time playing live.

The ‘saturnalia’ tend to travel the more difficult roads, to experience on their own skin the pain and the wounds of the worldly realities. Goya not only lived a special time, but he was also involved in a large cast of characters and circumstances.

As any person with concerns and a wrestler right off the bat, generated controversy and resulted in radical changes in the messages of his painting. The planets could not be exempt to the analogy of his changes.

But what tells us his astrological chart?

I commented at the beginning that Aries, sign of Goya, governs the head in the human body. As a result, the Arians often suffer from strong headaches. It is more remarkable in this particular case because of the very strong combination of 4 planets in his sign. Aries governs the suprarenal glands, which are that pump adrenaline into the bloodstream in case of emergency, as in the “suddenness” activity or furor of the Arians, giving these natives its reputation for impetuous. A characteristic very marked in Goya. In summary, due to the “Government” of Aries on the head and the sum of planetary components strongly affected in that sign at birth, it is very likely that he suffered an infection of meninges of bacterial origin, since the bad position of the planet Venus in opposition to Saturn and square to Neptune, poisonings are favoured. This planetary situation also indicates a ‘lack of regulation’ of the level of calcium in the body fluids.

Where is the head?

But from the astrological and symbolic point of view, returns to stay clear the importance of the data. Until after his death the ‘universal master’ keeps us on tenterhooks. His Solar sign Aries, that governs the head, already heralded the importance of such a zone would be his life-long artistic and vital. After his death, the disappearance of his head is like the enigma that Goya accompanied throughout his life: the separation between the earthly and the ‘dream world’…

P.S.:  In traditional Astrology (we talk about thousands of years of existence), and that nothing has to do with the popular horoscopes or misleading predictions of the media, when birth time of one person is unknown there are two paths of research.

One; if it can be recognized and aware three or more dates by the individual to analyze, which recalls the approximate time of the incident which has been of importance for him, charting the corresponding to the movement of the stars (these are cyclical astronomically speaking) from his birth date to the aforementioned events. When it matches analog planetary aspects with which indicates his birth date we are approaching to the time of birth.

Two; when there is no possibility of having the previous data, in this case of Goya, we must make a psychological study of his personality, actions, and attitudes over time. This way we approach his intimate real intimate status to the archetype of the Ascendant where it belongs.  The Ascendant of each individual is given by the study and projection in the Celestial Plan, of his time, latitude and longitude of the place of birth. This gives us the division of the 12 zodiacal houses, which make up the scenario in which the person will manifest in life. In fact, when we talk about someone is born under the Aries sign, Cancer, Leo or anyone else, we only speak about Sun position at a given time. While the rest of the Planets and Zodiac houses, depending on time, latitude and longitude native, can infinitely vary the result…

Posted on 23/09/2011 by Carlos Bogdanich on his blog “Cuarta Dimensión” (‘Fourth Dimension’).

All or almost has been said already about Goya. It is impossible to add something to what was said. These lines are not a comment from a specialist but from an artist who has had “encounters” over nearly forty years with Don Francisco de Goya, rather, with his work.

Beginning in the 1960s began editing in Argentina the collection “La Pinacoteca de los Genios” (‘The Art Gallery of the Genius’). My godfather Manuel, distributor of newspapers and magazines, gave me the first issues, among them the one devoted to Goya.
In the 1970s, the Latin American Publishing Center issued some magazines about graphic techniques. In 1973 I had not finished yet my degree at the Fine Arts faculty when one day I found several copies dedicated to engravings by Goya. I bought with a companion of studies four of them, two for each one. Those who I took home were referred to ‘The Disasters of War’. I knew the painting of Goya through books and “La Pinacoteca” (the Art Gallery), but not “discovered” yet the engravings, perhaps I had seen them but not understood. The impact of those images was emotionally intense. I had strange dreams from that vision, and same happened to my friend.

The social and political atmosphere we lived then in Argentina was violent and dangerous. “Tristes presentimientos de lo que ha de acontecer” (“Sad Presentiments of What is to Come”) was an announcement of what happened very shortly thereafter.
Goya is raw, realistic, not horrified, he sees, record, for him and for us. Terrible scenes beautifully engraved.
He and others were witnesses, then we also went and we continue to our shame.

I then looked with passion and admiration “Los Caprichos, Los Disparates” (‘The Caprices, The Nonsense’), and later, in Galleria degli Uffizzi, I was delighted with his painting, his wonderful flown brushstroke, subtle, rich, what fabrics! What jewels those small shoes…!
Later, already in Barcelona, I worked myself the engraving returned again and again to Don Francisco, and was a renewed vision. I did many sketches in tempera, black and white, lights and shadows, “studying” those amazing prints. I never used them for my work, but it developed in me the taste for the austerity of black and white to express what one considers essential.

In those years, a visit to the National Chalcography allowed me to meet the then newly opened “Temple” devoted to the plates of the master. Under a red-tinted light, I stared at these plates worked with an exquisite delicacy that surprised me because it left suspended the extreme violence of the printout on the paper. The plates are now treated steel, but we, the engravers, know that copper shines behind.

In my studio Ataúlfo 10, in Barcelona, I spent many years engraving and by chance I came a noon in June, sovereign sun, to Fuendetodos. That dry and severe landscape, flooded of light, impressed me. Energetic, powerful in its apparent poverty.
Then I taught several courses of etching techniques in the studio named now Antonio Saura, in tribute to that artist whom I have always admired as one of my masters whose devotion to Goya is known. His tribute to “Aún aprendo” (“Still learning”) has been a proof of this and also the countless mentions throughout his work.

Understanding an artist requires time and time changes our perception. Large amount of images I devoured in my youth, and often many come back and help me to better understand while they are interwoven with each other.
I have not returned to see the black paintings in the Prado Museum since in the late 1970s they changed their frames, which in my opinion was fatal. It also complained, long years ago, precisely by Antonio Saura.

There are works that when discovered produce great excitement and one don’t want to see them again, perhaps for fear of not being touched with the same intensity. Something like this happened to me with the black paintings. However, to the engravings I come back always, and also to the lithographs, because for more than twenty years that I am each day with stones, teaching and doing. It’s a pity that Goya was already an old man when he met lithographic art, but his way of working was already renewal since the beginning.

A few years ago I had the fortune to see, during its restoration, the dome Regina Martirum in El Pilar, Zaragoza. There’s a surprising Goya by its historical proximity, i.e. by its modernity. All the great masters have jumped the borders of their era at some point, becoming for us, “modern”, a term this led and brought that added nothing to the understanding of his work if not previously understood what it means to be modern. The broad brushstroke, oblivious to all the unnecessary, the self-assurance, spontaneity and richness of color, the “brushstrokes”, that others also used, but in him is a gesture of anticipatory breach. And even that it was an order!

And today I have come back to look at gouache ink drawings, magnificent by its liveliness, its throb and his grace, and these qualities, that freshness of ink that appears even damp, remind me much to Hokusai, where drawing throbs in the gait of passers-by, in the fireworks on those nights of full moon, and how those peasants steep in the rain… It never rains in Japan as it does in Hokusai or Kurosawa.

There is nothing in Goya that get us closer to nature. Of course, I am sensitive to the landscape, so I liked that Gonzalo de Diego reflection about the landscape background of so many horrific scenes, that called rightly, no landscapes, which are just backdrops or sceneries, an almost theatrical background without too much presence. Goya is interested in the human being, not nature. And there are those portraits, the characters crossed by his gaze up to leave only the main, essential trait, and as an example, the portrait of José Pío de Molina painted in 1828, one of his last paintings at the age of 82, with eyes already worn, and so wise.

Silvia Pagliano
January 2013