Fransico Goya
...y competition, in which he was successful. Goya returned to Spain in 1773, where he participated in several fresco projects including that for the Charterhouse of Aula Dei. Goya began to do prints after paintings by Velazquez in 1774, which remained one of his greatest sources of inspiration. By 1786 Goya was working for King Charles the third (the most enlighted Spanish monarch of the 18th century) where he later became court painter in 1799. Goya made tapestry cartoons which were highly praised for the views of Spanish everyday life. Goya revolutionized the tapestry industry which had been reproduced by Flemish genre scenes of the 17th century painter David Teniers. Some of Goya’s most beautiful portraits are of his friends that were members of the court. In 1792 Goya contracted a serious disease that left him deaf and marked a turning point in his career while he was visiting southern Spain. Goya’s work changed by what he saw in his life about him. Between 1797 and 1799 he drew and etched the first of his print series Los Caprichos which, mocked the social mores and superstitons of the time. Later he did the series of Desastres de la guerra (Disasters of the War, 1810) and Disparates (Absurdities, 1820-1823) which showed the ills and follies of humanity. War became terrifying after Goya experienced the battles between French soldiers and Spanish citizens firsthand during the bloody years of the Napoleonic occupation of Spain. In 1814 he had completed the Second of May and the Third of May in 1808. These paintings showed the dramatical brutal massacres of gr...