Genius Goya was a unique phenomenon in the Spanish art of the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, which he exalted to the grandeur of former times. Creativity of the artist passed through the last period of the Rococo, reaching the threshold of realism and revealing, in a huge variety of subjects.
In portraits, almost a century anticipating romantic ideas, the Spanish master managed to disclose the psychological essence of the characters through the external appearance. This painting, depicting Little Osorio, born in 1784, is one of a series of sealed portraits, commissioned by Count Altamira.
The child, dressed in a bright red suit, is placed on a monochrome background, which emphasizes his figure. In the hands of a toddler is a lace tied to the magpie’s foot, which, justifying its glory as “thieves,” holds in the beak a business card of the artist who with such an original technique puts his signature on the work.
Other animals depicted in the picture have a symbolic meaning, indicating how illusory the boundary between the naive children’s world and the evil forces that lie in wait for it.
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