Shop art print and framed art The Naked Maja by Francisco de Goya

The Naked Maja or The Nude Maja (Spanish: La maja desnuda [la ?maxa ðes?nuða]) is the name given to an oil on canvas painting of about 1797–1800 by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, and now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It portrays a nude woman reclining on a bed of pillows, and was probably commissioned by Manuel de Godoy, to hang in his private collection in a separate cabinet reserved for nude paintings. Goya created a pendant of the same woman identically posed, but clothed, known today as La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja), also in the Prado, and usually hung next to La maja desnuda. The subject is identified as a maja or fashionable lower-class Madrid woman, based on her costume in La maja vestida. The painting is renowned for the straightforward and unashamed gaze of the model towards the viewer. It has also been cited as among the earliest Western artwork to depict a nude woman's pubic hair without obvious negative connotations (such as in images of prostitutes). With this work Goya not only upset the ecclesiastical authorities, but also titillated the public and extended the artistic horizon of the day. It has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1901. Although the two versions of the Maja are the same size, the sitter in the clothed version occupies a slightly larger proportion of the pictorial space; according to art historian Janis Tomlinson she seems almost to press boldly against the confines of her frame, making her more brazen in comparison to [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the romanticism style.

 

« The Naked Maja » is kept at Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

 

Find the full description of The Naked Maja by Francisco de Goya on Wikipedia.