Depth of Death

Portrait of Manuel María's older brother who passed away while Esteve's painted this picture.

This painting is sometimes considered a forerunner to the Romantic era because Goya is breaking through to the idea of discarding the norm to express his own thoughts and ideas through his work which is a driving idea behind modern art. The piece became famous because it shows Goya’s deep awareness of how life and innocence can be lost in a fleeting moment. The portrait of the young boy was thought to be a memorial for the young noble’s death, but more than that, it was a representation of Goya’s concept of the brevity of life that can be seen in to other similar portraits, the way that Goya shapes Manuel María’s portrait, and the symbols that he includes alongside the young boy.

Just a few years before Goya was working, another Spanish artist named Augustín Esteve was painting for the Altamira family as well. Esteve painted a portrait of the count’s former oldest son child, Vincente Isabel, who was to be the heir to. However, Vincent Isabel died while the painting was being created and the portrait is now known as “the Boy in the Linnet”. If the portrait by Esteve and the portrait of Manuel María by Goya are compared, the similarities are clear. For instance, both boys are wearing the same clothing, standing in twin positions, and holding a bird tied to a string. However, while Esteve is recognizing the death of the young child in his portrait, Goya’s portrait is recognizing the vulnerability of Manuel María. For example, as the bird in Esteve’s portrait is flying and has his wings spread in a crucifixion-like manner, the bird that Goya paints is being hunted by cats that are hidden in the shadows and ready to pounce. Though Goya did not know that the young Manuel María would soon pass, he was referencing Esteve’s portrait of another deceased child. Goya’s understanding of the brevity of youth allowed him to push the limits of how art was perceived and opened doors to a more pervasive and darkly realistic examination of the world through art.