A Goya for an anniversary

We must leave Velazquez to rest a bit, even if there is another ‘discovery’ pending. The truth is Goya did deserve our attention. It is no easy task. The works he painted during his early period in Zaragoza, the ones he did in his trip to Italy and the ones completed in his native homeland before leaving for the Spanish court upon returning from the Italic peninsula, have always been more difficult to identify than the ones he undertook in Madrid and even those he finished in his French exile.

That is why the publication of this new Piéta and the scholarly essay written by professor Arturo Ansón., deserve special attention; And not only because it is a specially beautiful and important piece, in good condition, but because it provides us with many leads on the painting of the master after his Italian voyage. It will not be the last. Future issues will include an already ongoing work on the painter that will also be much talked about. Goya is still waiting to be discovered, proof of it is that two important foreign scholars will focus on the study of his work, which will also be a good thing.

But Goya’s Piéta is not the only novelty in this issue. The article by Alfonso Pleguezuelo with the four nativity scenes, which he attributes to La Roldana, that great Spanish sculptor who is just crying for an exhibition, shreds new light on her carving manner, and differentiates her original work from the great quantity of works ascribed to her.

Our cover is dedicated to Cristina Iglesias. Her opinions are worthy of reading specially those about so many “decorative pieces” that flood our cities. Do not miss the visit Eric Shiner makes to Terence Koh’s studio. And I also recommend the article on the Val de Omar exhibition, an island in a museum’s calendar, the Reina Sofia that celebrates its twentieth anniversary buried in a deep identity crisis.  A pity. In other museums , the work has allowed for other pieces we announced to flourish: The Pieter Brueghel the elder and another marvellous work, from another Madrid museum, which will be published in the following issue.

We celebrate two years at ARS and what we most cherish is the closeness we have maintained with our readers. A great encouragement and a joy to continue our work, thank you all.