1.
Francisco Goya
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Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of late 18th and early 19th centuries and throughout his career was a commentator. Immensely successful in his lifetime, Goya is often referred to as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns and he was also one of the great portraitists of modern times. He was born to a modest family in 1746 in the village of Fuendetodos in Aragon and he studied painting from age 14 under José Luzán y Martinez and moved to Madrid to study with Anton Raphael Mengs. He married Josefa Bayeu in 1773, the couples life together was characterised by an almost constant series of pregnancies and miscarriages, Goya was a guarded man and although letters and writings survive, little is known about his thoughts. He suffered a severe and undiagnosed illness in 1793 which left him completely deaf, after 1793 his work became progressively darker and more pessimistic. His later easel and mural paintings, prints and drawings appear to reflect a bleak outlook on personal, social and political levels and he was appointed Director of the Royal Academy in 1795, the year Manuel Godoy made an unfavorable treaty with France. In 1799 Goya became Primer Pintor de Cámara, the then-highest rank for a Spanish court painter, in the late 1790s, commissioned by Godoy, he completed his La maja desnuda, a remarkably daring nude for the time and clearly indebted to Diego Velázquez. In 1801 he painted Charles IV of Spain and His Family, in 1807 Napoleon led the French army into Spain. Goya remained in Madrid during the Peninsular War, which seems to have affected him deeply. Although he did not vocalise his thoughts in public, they can be inferred from his Disasters of War series of prints and his 1814 paintings The Second of May 1808 and The Third of May 1808. Goya eventually abandoned Spain in 1824 to retire to the French city of Bordeaux, accompanied by his much younger maid and companion, Leocadia Weiss, there he completed his La Tauromaquia series and a number of other, major, canvases. Following a stroke left him paralyzed on his right side. His body was later re-interred in Spain, Francisco Goya was born in Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain, on 30 March 1746 to José Benito de Goya y Franque and Gracia de Lucientes y Salvador. The family had moved that year from the city of Zaragoza, José was the son of a notary and of Basque origin, his ancestors being from Zerain, earning his living as a gilder, specialising in religious and decorative craftwork. He oversaw the gilding and most of the ornamentation during the rebuilding of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, Francisco was their fourth child, following his sister Rita, brother Tomás and second sister Jacinta. There were two sons, Mariano and Camilo. His mothers family had pretensions of nobility and the house, a modest brick cottage, was owned by her family and, perhaps fancifully, about 1749 José and Gracia bought a home in Zaragoza and were able to return to live in the city
2.
Museo del Prado
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The Prado Museum is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings,7,600 paintings,4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to a large number of other works of art and historic documents. As of 2012, the museum displayed about 1,300 works in the buildings, while around 3,100 works were on temporary loan to various museums. The museum received 2.8 million visitors in 2012 and it is one of the largest museums in Spain. The best-known work on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez, Velázquez and his keen eye and sensibility were also responsible for bringing much of the museums fine collection of Italian masters to Spain, now the largest outside of Italy. The museum is planning a 16% extension in the nearby Salón de Reinos and their efforts and determination led to the Royal Collection being enriched by some of the masterpieces now to be seen in the Prado. In addition to works from the Spanish royal collection, other holdings increased and enriched the Museum with further masterpieces, such as the two Majas by Goya. Among the now closed museums whose collections have been added to that of the Prado were the Museo del la Trinidad in 1872, in addition, numerous legacies, donations and purchases have been of crucial importance for the growth of the collection. Upon the deposition of Isabella II in 1868, the museum was nationalized and acquired the new name of Museo del Prado, the building housed the royal collection of arts, and it rapidly proved too small. The first enlargement to the museum took place in 1918, particularly important donations include Barón Emile dErlangers gift of Goyas Black Paintings in 1881. Between 1873 and 1900, the Prado helped decorate city halls, new universities, during the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, the focus was on building up provincial museums. The art had to be returned across French territory in night trains to the museum upon the commencement of World War II, during the early years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, many paintings were sent to embassies. The main building was enlarged with short pavilions in the rear between 1900 and 1960, in 1993, an extension proposed by the Prados director at the time, Felipe Garin, was quickly abandoned after a wave of criticism. In the late 1990s, a $14 million roof work forced the Velázquez masterpiece Las Meninas to change galleries twice, in 1998, the Prado annex in the nearby Casón del Buen Retiro closed for a $10 million two-year overhaul that included three new underground levels. In 2007, the finally executed Rafael Moneos project to expand its exposition room to 16,000 square meters. A glass-roofed and wedge-shaped foyer now contains the shops and cafeteria
3.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
4.
Manuel Godoy
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Manuel Godoy y Álvarez de Faria was Prime Minister of Spain from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808. He received many titles including Prince of the Peace by which he is widely known and he came to power at a young age as the favorite of the King and Queen. Despite disaster after disaster, he maintained power via corruption, many Spanish leaders blamed Godoy for the disastrous war with Britain that cut off Spains Empire and ruined its finances. Godoy was born in Badajoz, the youngest child of noble and his father was José de Godoy y Sánchez de los Ríos, de Cáceres y Méndez or José de Godoy y Sánchez de los Ríos Cáceres Morillo y Rodríguez. This noble family always had Knights, Commanders and even Masters in the Order of Santiago, the House of Godoy came from the House of the same name in Galicia, to which belonged Pedro Ruíz de Godoy, son of Rodrigo Alfonso. This Knight married Teresa, daughter of Juan Muñiz, and through her their descendants surnamed themselves Muñiz de Godoy, Don Pedro Muñiz de Godoy was a Knight and distinguished himself in the reign of King Henry II of Castile, of whom he was an intimate. Many of his descendants, connected to the Extremeñas families, were senior officials, in 1784, at the age of 17, Godoy moved to Madrid where he entered the royal bodyguard. When he went to Madrid, his singing and guitar playing set him apart and led him to the Palace, in 1788, he met the heir to the Spanish throne, who later that year acceded as King Charles IV. Godoy quickly became a favourite of Charles IV and of his wife, on 30 December 1788, he was given the office of Cadete supernumerario in the royal palace and in May 1789, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In November 1789, he was named a knight of the Order of Santiago and in August 1790, Godoys frequent promotions were signs of his increasing influence over the King and Queen. In 1791, Prime Minister Floridablanca accused Godoy of an relationship with the Queen. In January 1792, Floridablanca fell from office on account of Spains relationship with the emerging French Republic and his successor Aranda fell from office the following November, and Queen Maria Louisa arranged for Godoy to be Prime Minister. Godoys appointment seems to have accomplished with the full acceptance of King Charles IV who, lacking talent for governing, was happy to employ a competent. In 1792, Godoy was made Duke of la Alcudia with grandeeship, another year later, he was made Captain General and Duke of Sueca, Marquis of Alvarez, and Lord of Soto de Roma. He was also made the 15th Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain on 15 November 1792, Godoy continued Spains neutral policy towards the French Republic. In 1793, he failed to save King Louis XVI from the guillotine, Spains protest against Louis execution and its joining the alliance against the French Republic unleashed the War of the Pyrenees. The French armies managed to advance into the Basque districts in Spain by the west, in July 1795, Godoy negotiated the Peace of Basel with France, by which Spains frontier was restored, but its portion of the island of Hispaniola was ceded to the French. Although Godoy was widely criticized for the treaty, he received after its conclusion the title of Prince of the Peace, in August 1796, Godoy negotiated and signed the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso with France, which required that Spain declare war on Great Britain
5.
Pendant painting
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A pendant painting is one of two paintings intended as a pair. Typically, pendant paintings are related thematically to each other and are hung beside each other
6.
Majo
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Majas redirects here, for the locality in Mumbai, see Jogeshwari. They flourished from the late 18th to early 19th century, majos and majas were one of the favorite subjects of some 19th-century Spanish painters. The majos and majas outfits were exaggerations of traditional Spanish dress, the style stood in strong contrast to the French styles affected by many of the Spanish elite under the influence of the Enlightenment. Majos were known to pick fights with those they saw as afrancesados, in Spanish, the word possesses derived forms such as chulapo and chulapa, a version of chulo and chula in reference to their saucy attitude, as well as chispero and chispera, among others. Although majos of both sexes were frequent subjects of painter Francisco Goya, two of his majas, La maja vestida and La maja desnuda, would gain international renown. The outfit of the maja would influence the costume of the eponymous protagonist of Georges Bizets French opera Carmen in the mid-19th century, thus the maja became one of the popular and informal symbols of Spain, along with the bullfighter, who took the place of the majo. Some of the 20th-century depictions of the maja became somewhat assimilated to the flamenco dancer, nowadays, the increasing popularity of the maja has ended up eclipsing that of the majo. The image of a maja was the trademark of the Jabón Maja Myrurgia soap, the brands portrait of the maja in the soap boxes and wrappings was based on the person of Carmen Tórtola Valencia, a famous Spanish dancer of the early 20th century
7.
Pubic hair
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Pubic hair is part of a persons body hair and a secondary sex characteristic. Many cultures regard pubic hair to be erotic, and in most cultures pubic hair is associated with genitalia, in some cultures, it is the norm for pubic hair to be removed, especially of females, a practice which is regarded as part of personal hygiene. In other cultures, the exposure of pubic hair may be regarded as unaesthetic or embarrassing, the Tanner scale looks at the development of pubic hair. Before the onset of puberty, the area of both boys and girls has very fine vellus hair, referred to as Tanner stage 1 hair. The onset of pubic hair development is termed pubarche, the change for each hair follicle is relatively abrupt, but the extent of skin which grows androgenic hair gradually increases over several years. In males, the first pubic hair appears as a few sparse hairs that are thin on the scrotum or at the upper base of the penis. Within a year, hairs around the base of the penis are numerous, within 3 to 4 years, hair fills the pubic area and becomes much thicker and darker, and by 5 years extends to the near thighs and upwards on the abdomen toward the umbilicus. Other areas of the skin are similarly, though slightly less, sensitive to androgens, although generally considered part of the process of puberty, pubarche is distinct and independent of the process of maturation of the gonads that leads to sexual maturation and fertility. Pubic hair can develop from adrenal androgens alone, and can develop even when the ovaries or testes are defective, there is little if any difference in the capacity of male and female bodies to grow hair in response to androgens. The obvious sex-dimorphic difference in distribution in men and women is primarily a result of differences in the levels of androgen reached as maturity occurs. Pubic hair and axillary hair can vary in color considerably from the hair of the scalp, in most people it is darker, although it can also be lighter. In most cases it is most similar in color to the eyebrows of the individual, Hair texture varies from tightly curled to entirely straight, not necessarily correlating to the texture of the scalp hair. Pubic hair patterns can vary by race and ethnicity, patterns of pubic hair, known as the escutcheon, vary between sexes. On most women, the patch is triangular and lies over the vulva. On many men, the pubic patch tapers upwards to a line of hair pointing towards the navel, as with axillary hair, pubic hair is associated with a concentration of sebaceous glands in the area. Among the upper class in 18th century pre-Victorian Britain, pubic hair from ones lover was frequently collected as a souvenir, the curls were, for instance, worn like cockades in mens hats as potency talismans, or exchanged among lovers as tokens of affection. In Western societies, after the spread of Christianity, public exposure of a bare skin between the ankle and waist started to be disapproved of culturally. Many people came to public exposure of pubic hair to be embarrassing
