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The Parasol
Francisco Goya · Rococo & Neoclassicism
- Artist
- Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
- Date
- 1777
- Dimensions
- 104 x 152 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
The Parasol shows a fashionable young woman seated on a grassy bank with a little dog on her lap, while a young man in a green jacket shades her from the sun with a parasol. It is a design for a tapestry.
A closer look
Goya painted it as a full-size model, a 'cartoon', for the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid, to be woven as a wall hanging for the dining room of the Prince of Asturias in the El Pardo palace. The scene is light-hearted, in the Rococo spirit, but the figures are dressed as 'majos', fashionable working-class Madrileños. The play of light is brilliant: the green parasol casts a soft, coloured shadow over the woman's face, while her yellow skirt and blue jacket glow in the sun. The low viewpoint and the triangular composition make the figures stand out against the sky.
More by Francisco Goya
In this gallery
The Third of May 1808
Saturn Devouring His Son
The Nude Maja
Charles IV of Spain and His Family
The Clothed Maja
The Dog