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Friar Pedro Offers Shoes to El Maragato and Prepares to Push Aside His Gun, by Francisco Goya, oil, 1806

Friar Pedro Offers Shoes to El Maragato and Prepares to Push Aside His Gun

Francisco Goya

1806

oil

panel

From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago

Dominant colour

Overview

Friar Pedro Offers Shoes to El Maragato and Prepares to Push Aside His Gun is a 1806 oil by Francisco Goya, a Romanticism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.

Who painted this?
Francisco Goya
When & what style?
1806 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?
Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

You see a friar and a bandit in a tense moment. The friar, Pedro, is offering shoes to the bandit, El Maragato, while also preparing to push aside his gun. This scene is interesting because it's based on a real event from 1806, where Friar Pedro outsmarted the notorious criminal El Maragato. Check out the work of artist Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes to see more of his unique paintings.

The story of this work

Overview

In small, lively paintings made for his own pleasure or for a few discerning patrons, Francisco de Goya explored satirical and popular aspects of Spanish life. This series was inspired by a contemporary event, the capture of notorious criminal El Maragato by Friar Pedro de Saldivia in 1806. After escaping from prison, El Maragato spent two months stealing food, guns, and money before trying to take Friar Pedro and other innocent people hostage. The friar outsmarted the bandit, however, seizing his gun, shooting him in the thigh as he tried to flee, and finally tying him up. This story was…

Provenance

One of a series of six small paintings in an inventory of Goya’s collection, Madrid, taken in 1812 for the division of property between the artist and his son Javier following the death of the artist's wife; the group of small paintings marked X8 being allotted to the son: "Seis quadros del Maragato señalados con el número ocho, en 700 [reales]" (the inventory mark has been removed from the painting and is no longer visible) [see Gassier and Wilson 1971]; presumably Javier Goya after 1812. Lafitte collection, Madrid; sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, March 7, 1861, bought in together with other…

Exhibition history

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Spanish Painting, 1928, cat. 7–12, ill. The Art Institute of Chicago, Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933, cat. 166-b. The Art Institute of Chicago, Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1934, cat. 69-b. M. Knoedler & Co., New York, Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Goya, April 9-April 21, 1934, cat. 18. Columbus, Ohio, Gallery of Fine Arts, Exhibition of Spanish Art, 1936. The Art Institute of Chicago, Goya, 1941, pp. 46–49, cat. 72 (ill.) The Toledo Museum of Art,…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Portrait of Francisco Goya
Artist

Francisco Goya

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; Spanish: ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker.

See the richer artist page

More by Francisco Goya

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