One of Francisco Goya's most controversial works of art was "The Naked Maja" ("La Maja Desnuda") painted in the late 1790s. It featured a reclining unclothed female who looked quite brazen and comfortable with her lack of garments, unlike the shy and demure subjects of most other nude artwork at that time. Goya also painted a version showing the same model fully clothed (called, appropriately enough, "The Clothed Maja" ("La Maja Vestida")) . Both pictures were commissioned for a private collector. They are displayed at the bottom of this Factoid, so if you are bothered by nudity, please close this window now.
The Spanish Inquisition, which was still around at the time, tried Goya on moral depravity charges in 1808 because of the nude version of the picture. He was acquitted when it was pointed out that the King of Spain had similar types of artwork in his personal collection.
Controversy was rekindled in 1930, when "The Naked Maja" appeared on a Spanish postage stamp. The United States Post Office refused to deliver any mail bearing the stamp and sent it back to Spain.
Controversy was re-rekindled in 1959, when United Artists released a movie about Goya called The Naked Maja. The Post Office refused to deliver post cards advertising the movie because they contained an image of the offensive painting.
Things have changed a little since the 1800s, the 1930s, and the 1950s. I remember my grandmother in the mid-1960s being horrified by a photo in LIFE magazine of a clothed woman with a baby bump. I shudder to think what she would have said if she could have seen a half-hour of a typical premium cable TV program today.
 |
| Francisco Goya [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
 |
| Francisco Goya [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
 |
| :Nickpo (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
No comments:
Post a Comment