Status Updates From Old Man Goya

this book is so weird; it’s not quite a biography on goya, but it’s also not quite an autobiography by the author—it’s trying to be both and that’s not really working for me. i’m skimming to read the parts about goya, but even then, some of that is imagined, so i’m spending the whole time i’m reading this wondering what is true and what isn’t?

I can already tell I’m going to be skimming most of this book; I’ve been realizing as of late that I’m not really a fan of memoirs or biographies

The old man on a swing seems to be a self-portrait... The old man wears a rumpled suit and a white shirt. His feet are bare and his calves are knotted with muscles. His face is filled with a look of a wild and private joy.

During his short stay in Madrid in the summer of 1826, Goya agreed at the request of the King, to have his portrait painted by the celebrated and very academic Court Painter Vicente López.