Art Institute of Chicago

Boy on a Ram

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)

Date

1786–87

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

Spain

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

As painter to the king of Spain, Francisco de Goya also designed tapestries for the royal residences. The artist made small oil sketches to work out the designs, followed by full-scale painted cartoons that served as guides for the weavers at the king’s tapestry works. This cartoon was produced for a tapestry in a series decorating the dining room in the Palace of El Pardo outside Madrid. The room’s large panels illustrate a traditional decorative subject, the four seasons, but Goya exercised his imagination in the smaller panels above the doors, producing scenes of children and animals like this one.

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