Francisco Goya: Court Painter

          Francisco Goya was born on March 30, 1746 in Fuendetodos, Aragon, Spain. At age 14, Goya studied under the painter Jose Luzan in Italy where he copied stamps until he decided to go work on his own. He worked on tapestries and submitted pieces.
          In Italy, he fell in love with a nun and soon abducted her and the two of them fled to get married.
          Goya soon went back to Madrid where he worked more on tapestries.
          Soon, Francisco Goya was appointed court painter for Charles IV in 1789 and the following year he became First Court Painter. Goya painted portraits of the king and queen, the Spanish Prime Minister, and many more nobles.
          Goya earned commissions from the highest ranks of Spanish nobility and in 1801, Goya painted Godoy in a commission to commemorate the victory of the brief war with Portugal.
          For many years, Goya was commissioned to paint many pictures of the Spanish nobility. He painted pictures such as Charles IV of Spain and His Family in 1800, The Family of the Infante Don Luis in 1784, and the Portrait of Manuel Godoy in 1801.
         Upon the return of King Ferdinand VII, though, Goya fell out of favor with royalty.