#67 See Goya’s frescoes in the San Antonio de la Florida Chapel

Frescos of the chapel.

I truly know next to nothing about art. I can name you some famous artists (mostly painters) and I can give you a short list of important Spanish artists, but that's really it. Honestly, I'm just not much of a fan of art. Especially portraits and religious paintings. I really find nothing more boring than walking through the Prado passing portrait after portrait of whatever king or queen or duke or whatever of Spain; then painting after painting of Jesus, Mary, or any of the other gazillion saints.

However, there is some art that I do like, and even the art that I don't like I can at least recognize its significance. (Except abstract expressionism - I'm sorry but I simply do not understand this type of painting - I don't care how much  you tell me about dripping paint, or layers of paint, or brushstrokes, or the special meaning behind the color red, it's not art!) Francisco de Goya is one of such painters - the boring portrait type that I dislike but recognize his importance, that is. He often painted people (though certainly not exclusively), including the Spanish royal family, for whom he worked. He died in Bordeaux, France in 1828, but nearly a century later in 1919 his remains were transferred to Madrid and reburied in the Ermita de San Antonio de Florida.

Frescos on the domes.

The chapel was originally built for the saint after whom it is named. What I do like about Goya are the Neoclassical frescoes that he himself painted in just six months on the chapel's ceilings. They mainly (in a nutshell) depict scenes from Saint Anthony's life, as well as images from 18th century Madrid. I personally don't understand the technique or significance behind the frescoes, but they are quite beautiful. Plus, I think there's extra merit to painting a fresco - it can't be an easy or pleasant task to paint a gigantic image standing on a ladder of some sort, craning your neck, half upside-down in order to get that stuff on the ceiling.