1808-12
Oil on canvas, 45 x 62 cm
Oskar Reinhart Collection, Winterthur
Goya's picture strives towards the truth of things and has the character of a manifesto. The banal object is liberated from its context and lent heroic status as the true protagonist. Through painting, common objects are lent quiet nobility, dignity and worth. A more modest subject for a picture than the one painted here is barely conceivable. The composition employs the simplest means and is precisely for this reason so striking.
