1810
oil
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Hanged Monk is a 1810 oil by Francisco Goya, a Romanticism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
A monk hangs upside-down from a rope tied to his ankles. His face is hidden in shadow, but his body glows against a dark, empty background. Goya painted this during Spain’s brutal war with France. The monk might be a traitor, or just a victim—no one knows. The quiet horror feels personal, like a secret Goya didn’t explain. Look up *chiaroscuro* to see how artists use light and dark this way.
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 X9 being allotted to the son: “Otros seis de varios asuntos con el no neuve, en 800 reales” [see Gassier and Wilson 1971, pp. 251, 254]; presumably Javier Goya, after 1812. Possibly the Marques de la Romana, Madrid [according to Vienna 1908, the painting was formerly in the Romana collection]. Laurent Laperlier (died 1878); sold, 19 February 1879, Hotel…
Vienna, Galerie Miethke, Exposition Goya, April 1908, cat. 12, ill. Budapest, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Exposition des oeuvres d'art socialisées, 1919. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Goya, 1941, cat. 86, ill. Basel, Switzerland, Kunsthalle, Goya: Paintings, Etchings, Drawings, Tapestries, January 23 - April 12, 1953, cat. 22. Milwaukee Art Institute, Five Centuries of Spanish Paintings, September 5 - October 26, 1952, cat. 35. Winnipeg, Canada, Winnepeg Art Gallery, El Greco to Goya, April 16 - May 15, 1955, cat. 22, ill., p. 23. Milwaukee Art Institute, Inaugural Exhibition, September 12 -…
Xavier Desparmet Fitz-Gerald, L’Oeuvre peint de Goya: Catalogue raisonné, vol. I (Paris, 1928-1950), p. 258, no. 230, pl. 181. ‘Fifteen New Acquisitions at Chicago” Art News 35 (December 26, 1936), pp. 9-10, ill. R.F. Stell, “Goya und sein Menschenbild,” Das Werk 3 (March 1953), pp. 105, 106, ill. and Emporium (March 1953), pp. 112-118. Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), p. 202, ill. p. 103. José Gudio, Goya 1746-1828, Biography, Analytical Study and Catalogue of his Paintings, trans. by Kenneth Lyons…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; Spanish: ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker.
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