Autumn, Francisco De Goya Y Lucientes
In 1786, Goya was commissioned to design tapestries to decorate the dining room in Madrid’s El Pardo palace. The king specifically requested “pleasant, light-hearted subjects,” and this painting, a sketch for one of the tapestries, was presented for his approval. A child reaches for a bunch of grapes that a young man in a stylish yellow suit offers to a lady dressed in black. Behind them, a servant balances a basket of grapes on her head—she personifies Autumn, the season of plentiful harvests.
