Newly Speculated Goya Painting to Feature in 2028 Museo del Prado Show

A painting that well-placed observers surmise was painted by Francisco de Goya will be on view in a forthcoming exhibition timed to commence 200 years after the celebrated Spanish artist’s death.

After posing a question related to whether or not the work is truly by Goya, The Art Newspaper reported, “A full technical investigation of the work has yet to be completed but everyone involved, including Spain’s culture ministry and Madrid’s Museo del Prado, is operating under the assumption that the answer is ‘yes.’”

The painting, titled El milagro de la aparición del eucaristo al San Pascual Bailón (The miracle of the appearance of the Eucharist to Saint Paschal Baylón), was bought at auction in Madrid by the Barcelona-based gallerist Artur Ramon in 2018, when it was attributed to Goya’s brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu. But during the global pandemic in 2020, Ramon hung the painting in his home and, after ample time aroudn it, started to suspect it might be the work of a much more famous artist.

“I started to see some stylistic traits, some ways of resolving the anatomy, especially in the hands,” Ramon told TAN. “With just some touches of light and colour, the artist managed to articulate something as complex as a hand in motion. It seemed too good to be Bayeu’s.”

To test his hypothesis, Ramon applied to take the painting out of Spain to TEFAF Maastricht, knowing that the country’s Ministry of Culture would enlist the Prado to evaluate the work before exportation. “I knew that if Prado thought it was a Goya, they wouldn’t let me take it out of the country,” said Ramon.

In a statement sent to TAN, the Ministry of Culture said “in the absence of a more in-depth study and verification from various specialists, everything seems to indicate that this is an unknown work of Francisco de Goya from around 1780.”

The Prado press office confirmed the painting will be included in its 2028 Goya show, and Manuel Matilla, the museum’s head of conservation for drawings and prints, said, “The preparation for the exhibition creates the moment to study the work and then confirm or correct the attribution … But our starting point is, yes, that this is a Goya.”

A painting of a figure staring up at a beacon of light with a skull by his feet.
El milagro de la aparición del eucaristo al San Pascual Bailón (The miracle of the appearance of the Eucharist to Saint Paschal Baylón), previously attributed to Francisco Bayeu. Courtesy Arthur Ramon Art


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