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Prado Museum Now Determined that "Colossus" is not an Original Goya

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Tuesday, 27 January 2009 23:22

Image of The Colossus, which had been attributed to Goya. The Prado Museum now says that the work of art was actually done by a follower of Goya's. 

MADRID - Last summer, curators of the Prado Museum briefed the media on new discoveries relating to The Colossus, a painting traditionally attributed to Goya. Following a meeting of specialists held this week at the Museum, Gabrieli Finaldi, Associate Director of Conservation at the Museum, Manuela Mena, Chief Curator of 18th-century Painting and Goya, and Jose Luis Diez, Chief Curator of 19th-century Painting, gave details to the media of the current state of research on the painting. This followed the recent association of the initials A.J. (at the lower left of the painting) with the Valencian painter Asensio Julia, a friend and assistant of Francisco de Goya.

Now the museum has presented its conclusions and has stated that,”The findings to this date do not confirm that the author was Julia, the painting can only be attributed to a follower of Goya.”

What had until now been considered as one of the best paintings made by the genius from Fuendetodos results in only being a poorly lit and colored canvas, badly executed, according to the report. The reason is that the painting’s darkness and the tones have not allowed experts to find the author of the work of art. The study, headed by Manuela Mena Marques, Chief Curator of 18th-century Painting and an expert on Goya has reviewed the paper work from when the painting arrived at the Prado in 1931, to find clues on how it was so quickly attributed to Goya. The investigation has also analyzed the technique, the composition and the meaning of the painting, and has compared it with other confirmed works of art made by Goya.

Mena Marques says that there is still a lot of work to do: “When we locate new documents, as well as the study of the confirmed works by Julia, which are dispersed, and the correct identification of other works of art attributed to him and that could have been made by his hand, together with the best knowledge of his hand and with works made by other followers of Goya, earlier and later, is the work that has to be done in the future,” says Mena Marques. "Only then can Colossus be attributed to Asensio Julia".

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