Photography and Painting

By the late 18th century the constraints against nudity in art had relaxed somewhat in Spain, but it still had the ability to shock. Goya's "La Maja Desnuda", "The Naked Maja" was perhaps the first really explicit female nude painted in the modern era.


The model, and indeed the painting, has always been something of a mystery.  The popular belief is that it represents the Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya was reputed to have had an affair, but that is far from certain. More likely it is a composite piece.  It, and its companion, a painting of the same model and pose clothed, were never exhibited publicly in Goya's lifetime.

Because of its somewhat impressionistic rendering, it is difficult to reproduce photographically.  The figure seems to float away from the bed and bedclothes, not quite touching.  The model's pose is confrontational, as is the model in Manet's "Olympia", painted some three-quarters of a century later.

I used the same model in both.