Francisco Goya and His Self-Portraits Throughout His Life

When I was researching Goya, unlike the previous two painters, I easily found a good number of self-portraits. What I found interesting is that Goya portrayed himself throughout his life, almost like a diary. The anger expressed on his face and his deafness in later life made it unavoidable to draw a connection between him and Beethoven. Both suffered from illness and lived around the same time (Goya slightly earlier), and both are referred to as marking the end of an era and the beginning of another. Goya’s self-portraits are like Beethoven’s piano sonatas, documenting their changes and different stages of life. Although I have more self-portraits in my collection, I only included a few of them. What I find particularly moving are his later works—a chalk drawing from the Museo del Prado titled I am still learning and the oil painting Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta, which create a striking contrast (both dated around the same time, 1820-1821).   The struggle with illness, yet the unwillingness to give up and the positivity, clearly reflect Goya’s great strength of willpower and his resilient personality.