5/7/2023 0 Comments Klein instanity![]() ![]() ![]() The only object is a coffin-like wooden box, which serves inevitably as a reference to the slow and lingering death to which they have effectively been sentenced. Cast off from society (and, seemingly, from light itself), the prisoners have been condemned to suffer in a state of dark and ignominious silence-their screams unable to echo beyond the walls in which they have been imprisoned. Serving in part as a physical barrier, the thick strong arch under which they are positioned functions simultaneously as a reference to the crushing isolation and ultimate futility of their situation. With the faces of the prisoners either turned away or lost in shadow, the scene is one of utter desolation. Presented in a variety of postures, some of them sit or lean against the prison walls while another lies recumbent in the foreground, his suffering augmented by the sturdy metal chain around his neck-a form of punishment frequently adopted in the prisons of Madrid at the time. In this composition, Goya depicts the interior of a prison, focusing on the suffering of seven ragged and unshaven figures whose wrists and ankles are bound by heavy metal chains. These themes were innovative in Spanish art and eclipsed the traditional categories of academic painting, which favoured the depiction of subjects from history along with endeavours in portraiture, landscape, and still life. Amongst these, Yard with Lunatics (1794, Meadows Museum, Dallas), which offers a disturbing vision of life without reason, is the composition most closely related to the one in The Bowes Museum. These include treatments of bullfighting, depictions of strolling players, and scenes of pain and mortal danger. Free from the constraints that are traditionally associated with a specific commission, he focused on subjects that reflect his personal interests. Goya’s Interior of a Prison forms part of a set of twelve small cabinet pictures that he painted on tinplate when convalescing from a serious-and potentially life-threatening-illness in late 1793 or early 1794. ![]()
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