Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, zugeschrieben
Landschaft mit Haus, Bäumen und einer Pyramide, 1796 - 1808
This drawing, published for the first time here, resembles others by Francisco de Goya in which landscape is the main subject or occupies the background of the composition. Therefore, it can be considered as attributable to his circle. A drawing from the Valentín Carderera Collection, now at the Museo del Prado and traditionally attributed to Goya, depicts an urban scene in Madrid with similar techniques and dimensions (Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, D 4146, 4 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. [117 x 195 mm]). The Prado work also has traces of red chalk, but its other techniques are similar, including underlying black pencil, pencil wash, and gall ink applied with a pen. The use of a gray wash, probably pencil-based and quite unusual, is particularly singular, and it shapes the atmosphere of both drawings.
The manner of sketching the farmhouse in this drawing recalls that of the Prado drawing and also resembles other farmhouses sketched with pen and gall ink in the backgrounds of some drawings from the Sueños series (1796–97), which led to the Caprichos.[1] The summary parallel lines and economic representation of the windows are also notably similar, although the poor state of conservation of the gall ink, which is very oxidized and ostensibly covers the drawing, makes it difficult to appreciate its true value.
The presence of a pyramid on the right and the tree that serves as the central element of the composition are recurrent in Goya's works and argue in favor of attribution to him, although one cannot rule out the possibility that it may have been made by one of his followers.
José Manuel Matilla
1 At the Museo Nacional del Prado: Sueno 9 (D 4205), Sueño 5 (D 4206), and Sueño 14 (D 3916).