''Atropos'', or ''The Fates'' (Spanish: ''Átropos'' or ''Las Parcas'') is one of the 14 ''

Black Paintings The ''Black Paintings'' (Spanish: ''Pinturas negras'') is the name given to a group of 14 paintings by Francisco Goya from the later years of his life, likely between 1819 and 1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his ...

'' painted by

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

between 1819–1823. Goya, then 75 and in mental and physical despair, created the series directly onto the interior walls of the house known as the Quinta del Sordo ("House of the Deaf Man"), purchased in 1819. It probably occupied a position on the second floor of the house beside the ''

Fight with Cudgels ''Fight with Cudgels'' ( es, Riña a garrotazos or ''Duelo a garrotazos''), called ''The Strangers'' or ''Cowherds'' in the inventories, is the name given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. One ...

'' and across from the '' Fantastic Vision''. Like the rest of the black paintings, it was transferred to canvas in 1873–74 under the supervision of

Salvador Martínez Cubells Salvador Martínez Cubells (9 November 1845 – 21 January 1914) was a Spanish painter and art restorer ( Paintings conservator), who specialized in history painting and Costumbrismo. Biography He was born in Valencia, and received his fi ...

, a curator at the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

. The owner, Baron Emile d'Erlanger, donated the canvases to the Spanish state in 1881, and they are now on display at the Prado. The painting is a reinterpretation of the mythological subject of the goddesses of destiny—the

Moirai In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Moirai (, also spelled Moirae or Mœræ; grc, Μοῖραι, "lots, destinies, apportioners"), often known in English as the Fates ( la, Fata, Fata, -orum (n)=), were the personifications of fate ...

or fates as recounted in

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

and other classical writers. These "Daughters of Night" were headed by

Atropos Atropos (; grc, Ἄτροπος "without turn") or Aisa, in Greek mythology, was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. Her Roman equivalent was Morta. Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as "the Inflex ...

, the inexorable goddess of death, who carries a few scissors to cut the thread of life;

Clotho Clotho (; el, Κλωθώ) is a mythological figure. She is the youngest of the Three Fates or Moirai who spins the thread of human life; the other two draw out (Lachesis) and cut (Atropos) in ancient Greek mythology. Her Roman equivalent is ...

, with her

distaff A distaff (, , also called a rock"Rock." ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989.), is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly use ...

(which Goya replaces with a doll or newborn child, possibly an allegory of life), and Lachesis, the spinning one, which in this representation looks across a lens or in a mirror and symbolizes time, since she was the one who measured the length of the fiber. To the three female figures suspended in the air a fourth figure is added in the foreground. Possibly male, this figure's hands are bound behind him as if he is captive. If this interpretation is true, the fates would be deciding the destiny of the man whose bound hands cannot be opposed to his fate. It has been speculated that he may represent

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

, who was bound on a mountain and left to be savaged by an eagle as punishment for stealing fire from

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

.Hughes, 388 The painting's range of color is diminished, as much or even more so than the other black paintings, to ochres and blacks. This reinforces a nocturnal and unreal atmosphere, appropriate to the mythical subject of this work. The arbitrary, irrational aspects of Goya's ''Black Paintings'' have given them a place as precursors to

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

References

Bibliography

*Benito Oterino, Agustín, ''La luz en la quinta del sordo: estudio de las formas y cotidianidad'', Madrid, Universidad Complutense, 2002, p. 33
Edición digital
. *Bozal, Valeriano, ''Francisco Goya, vida y obra'', (2 vols.) Madrid, Tf. Editores, 2005. . *Bozal, Valeriano, ''Pinturas Negras de Goya'', Tf. Editores, Madrid, 1997. *Glendinning, Nigel, ''Francisco de Goya'', Madrid, Cuadernos de Historia 16 (col. «El arte y sus creadores», nº 30), 1993. * Junquera, Juan José. ''The Black Paintings of Goya''. London: Scala Publishers, 2008. *Hagen, Rose-Marie and Hagen, Rainer, ''Francisco de Goya'', Cologne, Taschen, 2003. . * Hughes, Robert. ''Goya''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.

External links

* {{ACArt, country=ES Paintings depicting Greek myths 1820s paintings Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

See also

References

Bibliography

External links