Francisco Goya
03 September - 01 November 1998

These two famous works by the notable Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746-1828) usually hang in the Prado, Madrid and only rarely leave their permanent home.

A maja is a woman whose life is devoted to the pleasures of love. Spirited and seductive majas embodied the ideal of attractiveness in late 18th-century Spain. Goya's works are not only very original depictions of a contemporary figure, but also reveal changes in his pictorial style at the turn of the century. With its grace and artificiality, Maja Naked is rooted in 18th-century art, while Maja Clothed, with its Oriental exoticism and sensual frankness, anticipates 19th-century Romanticism.