Copyright by Laura Mareike Sager 2006 - The University of Texas at ...

Agustin realizes here that Goya has further advanced in his stylistic
composition. Moreover, again the formal achievement corresponds to a further
step in the direction of a more committed art. Especially in the final trochees,
Agustin expresses his awareness that these pictures are Goya’s first pictorial
expression of his discontent with the political reality, a discontent, that is,
however, impossible to pin down. The paintings provoke feelings and emotions,
but cannot be nailed down in a definitive interpretation. Subsequently, many of
Goya’s friends view and comment on the newness and expressiveness of these
pictures, but Don Miguel also warns Goya of their possible danger for him, when
the Inquisition becomes aware of the “disguised indignation in these pictures”
(This Is 172). Goya, however, is sure of his safety, pointing out that he has done
nothing offensive: “Ich habe nichts Nacktes gemalt. Ich habe niemals die Füße
Unserer Lieben Frau gemalt. In meiner ganzen Malerei ist nichts, was gegen die
Inquisition verstößt” (ibid.). 71 And indeed, the Archbishop, when he does
command Goya before the Holy Office, interprets them as “gute, fromme Werke.
[…] Es geht von dieser ‘Inquisition’ jener wohltätige Schrecken aus, den das
Heilige Offizium anstrebt” (Goya 196). 72
Interestingly, Konrad Wolf’s 1971 film based on this novel changes the
frequency, distribution as well as the point of view of these interpretive ekphrases.
Agustin Esteve’s lengthy interpretive ekphrasis which in the novel occurs in an
inner monologue, expressing his unuttered thoughts and feelings about the works,
71 “I’ve never painted the nude. I’ve never painted the feet of Our Lady. There’s nothing in any of
my paintings that goes against the interdicts of the Inquisition” (This Is 173).
72 “These are good, pious works […] From the ‘Inquisition’ there emanates that salutary shock
which the Holy Office strives to administer” (This Is 176-77).
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