Teach with Collections: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Monk Talking to an Old Woman

In December 1825, Goya wrote to his friend Joaquín Ferrer, "It is true that last winter I painted on ivory, and have a collection of some forty experiments, but it is a new kind of miniature which I never saw before." Then seventy-nine years old, Goya was living in exile in Bordeaux, France, having fled the oppressive rule of Spain's King Ferdinand VII. He could no longer see or hear well but nevertheless devised an entirely new method of painting. Instead of building up a figure from tiny dots of paint, he blackened pieces of ivory and let random drops of water create forms he would then develop. Goya painted these small scenes not from nature but from his imagination. His experience of creating works of art (especially prints) in series is evident in this medium, as he worked out similar scenes with psychological overtones in the other known ivories. Such disquieting content‚—long present in peripheral figures in his paintings or as primary subject matter in his prints‚—is here allowed free reign.

Conversation prompts How does the unusual technique used by Goya to create this work complement the ambiguous subject matter? (Consider the specific experience of viewing this work as well.)

Which particular details make this composition unsettling to the viewer?

Describe the color contrasts used in this ivory.