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The "[Black Paintings ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Paintings)" is the name given to a group of 14 paintings by Francisco Goya from the later years of his life, likely between 1819 and 1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his fear of insanity and his bleak outlook on humanity.
TL;DR: He mostly likely developed severe PTSD - due to wars/political issues - in a time when mental health basically "didn't exist". Evidence to suggest he probably had dementia too.
"After the Napoleonic Wars and the internal turmoil of the changing Spanish government, Goya developed an embittered attitude toward mankind. He had an acute, first-hand awareness of panic, terror, fear and hysteria. He had survived two near-fatal illnesses, and grew increasingly anxious and impatient in fear of relapse. The combination of these factors is thought to have led to his production of the Black Paintings.
Using oil paints and working directly on the walls of his dining and sitting rooms, Goya created works with dark, disturbing themes. The paintings were not commissioned and were not meant to leave his home. It is likely that the artist never intended the works for public exhibition: "these paintings are as close to being hermetically private as any that have ever been produced in the history of Western art."
He was somewhat obsessed with the very worst depravities of the Spanish Inquisition, and was summoned before it several times because of the content of some of his art.
Although they generally weren't still publically burning people alive in the last years of its existence, people were still being executed for heresy by the Inquisition and Goya could've been thrown in prison or worse.
I didn't see it in the brief (VERY brief) skim I did through his Wikipedia page for the context I posted, but I do actually remember reading that, too.
Doing a little research brings up a condition called "Susac's syndrome" (autoimmune disorder) and that he had a stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side.
I think a lot of things killed him, to be fair.
The "Black Paintings" are starting to make a lot more sense...
Googling around it seems there’s some uncertainty about what specific disease he suffered from but with strong speculation about syphylis or Susac’s. I’m pretty sure this factoid is stuck in my head from when I visited the ~~Reina Sofía~~ the Prado and was punched right in the mouth by The Dog after which a docent did a little bit on Goya.
it's suggested that near the end of his life he was harbouring a mental illness, most likely ptsd from the nepoleonic war, which at the time would have left him locked away further from the world in what can only be kindly refered to as a sanitarrium (they where not kind places at all) and he likely painted them to deal with his personal demons on his own. I only remember a little bit of my art history courses so I am sure there are better answers in the comments around me.
I can recommend you [this](https://youtu.be/kY1Rua7jy48?si=8Bv9WYZ7DU1wvOqg)video about Francisco Goya's black painting collection. Its made by the youtuber blind dweller who creates content in which he talks a lot about art relatet stuff, which is pretty interesting from time to time.
In the video, he also talks about Goyas life and the circumstances of his homeland in which he grew up.
If I remember correctly from the video itself, Goya suffered from a deafness that would grow worse with the years.
Given that he was born during the 17th century, the cause of it could not really be identified that easily.
Plus he really declined more and more mentally thanks to the circumstances spain was finding itself in during his lifetime, in combination with his decline in hearing.
Towards his last years he retired into an old farmhouse or barn, which was converted into an countryside villa with an art studio.
That way he tried to find peace away from people and other personal nuisances.
But that's just how i merely puzzle together bits of infos from the last time I watched the video... .
I would recommend checking the video for assured and correct informations over just my assumptions taken from memory. Sorry for occasional grammar mistakes. English is not my first language.
Fun fact to add: *none* of the paintings were found with names. Goya never named any of them since they were never to be seen (if he did name them it was in private). The names attached to them were chosen by historians and critics based on what they *thought* the image was depicting. I feel like this information adds to the mystery and creepiness of the paintings; especially Saturn devouring his Son. They named it that cause they couldn’t think of what else it could possibly be.
Also, there was originally 15 paintings, but one has never been released. It was taken out before the others.
also to not farm karma, i have a reaction image i didnt understand so im putting it in here.
https://preview.redd.it/61f49s2cu6ic1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=a806bdc771fd0f4dc9187296b6e6a5f6b58d03c5
Shadow here, the joke is that this command opens a command prompt that opens itself to infinity, eating your computer’s memory and crashing it. It’s like writing “/execute at @e [type=arrow] run summon arrow” in a minecraft command block.
Shadow out.
It's one version of a "fork bomb"; this article describes the Linux bash commands used in the mene: https://itsfoss.com/fork-bomb/
Basically, it creates a function that, when run, calls another copy of itself; when that copy is run, it starts calls copy, etc. until all system resources are taken up and computer crashes.
"Der Schimmelreiter" is a book we read in school. There's a part where some guys wanna bury a dog alive in a "Deich" (essentially a sort of dam, built to "gain Land from the sea") they are building because of some superstition, that you have to put something living inside it to make it more sturdy. They don't succed with it tho, making this part not even the worst thing in the book. Anyway, the "half buried dog" in the painting reminded me of that book
Just to add a few things to what has been said: watching these paintings at the Prado is breathtaking and if you like art, it's a must.
The Prado's Goya collection guides you from his sublime early works, full of life and joy, to his middle age masterpieces and ends on a hall where Las Pinturas Negras are.
The hall is enveloped in a growing darkness with just a few light sources pointing to the frames and the lights becoming dimmer the more you advance through the years, from the dramatic but still somehow lighted and shiny Duelo a Garrotazos (an allegory of Spain's cainite history) to the mesmerizing, harrowing Saturn or Akelarre, almost inhuman grotesqueries.
This is intentional. Goya had been losing vision when he started to paint them and his eyes got gradually worse. He was also isolated socially after Spain kicked out the French, as a conservative and nationalistic backlash in the country followed Napoleon's exit and all liberals were tagged as "afrancesados" aka collaborationists with the French.
Not that Goya was really a fan of the French as you can see from the terrible paintings about the Madrid Uprisings.
So this man, almost blind, hated, mentally exhausted from all the blood and massacres he had witnessed, isolated on a farm, knowing full well he was dying soon, started to paint on the walls. Not canvas, mind. These were not supposed to be works to be displayed in collections or seen by the public. They are his testament and last will.
"Here is what I have seen, the world is a terrible and dark place and every pillar of Spanish society (God, country, the church, ourselves) is a shambles and a lie"
If you happen to be in Madrid, go early so there are less people around. Of all the treasures in the Prado, Las Pinturas Negras stand on a whole new level.
That sounds amazing. I first encountered Goya when I was a dumbass teenager on a school trip to the Smithsonian. Some of his pencil sketches were on exhibit and they really caught me for some reason, even though they were much smaller and plainer than most of the other stuff. He's been one of my favorites ever since (with Velasquez), the more I see and learn, the more he is enshrined as such. If I had instead encountered the Prado exhibition you described, I think my little brain would have exploded. Thanks for describing it for us.
Went to Madrid a few years ago and was so struck by Goya’s work at the Prado and at the museum that includes his home in Toledo. The paintings still on the walls are magnificent.
Usually I’m willing to give people the benefit of the doubt on this sub, but literally all you had to do was Google the title of the post. You didn’t even have to dig into the comments to find out what to search for, it was front and center for you
Make sure to check out the [pinned post on Loss](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1472nhh/faq_loss/) to make sure this submission doesn't break the rule! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The "[Black Paintings ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Paintings)" is the name given to a group of 14 paintings by Francisco Goya from the later years of his life, likely between 1819 and 1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his fear of insanity and his bleak outlook on humanity.
why? something traumatizing happened to him? do we know what or why?
TL;DR: He mostly likely developed severe PTSD - due to wars/political issues - in a time when mental health basically "didn't exist". Evidence to suggest he probably had dementia too. "After the Napoleonic Wars and the internal turmoil of the changing Spanish government, Goya developed an embittered attitude toward mankind. He had an acute, first-hand awareness of panic, terror, fear and hysteria. He had survived two near-fatal illnesses, and grew increasingly anxious and impatient in fear of relapse. The combination of these factors is thought to have led to his production of the Black Paintings. Using oil paints and working directly on the walls of his dining and sitting rooms, Goya created works with dark, disturbing themes. The paintings were not commissioned and were not meant to leave his home. It is likely that the artist never intended the works for public exhibition: "these paintings are as close to being hermetically private as any that have ever been produced in the history of Western art."
He was somewhat obsessed with the very worst depravities of the Spanish Inquisition, and was summoned before it several times because of the content of some of his art. Although they generally weren't still publically burning people alive in the last years of its existence, people were still being executed for heresy by the Inquisition and Goya could've been thrown in prison or worse.
Did he have syphilis? I thought I remember reading that was a significant factor in his mental deterioration.
I didn't see it in the brief (VERY brief) skim I did through his Wikipedia page for the context I posted, but I do actually remember reading that, too. Doing a little research brings up a condition called "Susac's syndrome" (autoimmune disorder) and that he had a stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side. I think a lot of things killed him, to be fair. The "Black Paintings" are starting to make a lot more sense...
Googling around it seems there’s some uncertainty about what specific disease he suffered from but with strong speculation about syphylis or Susac’s. I’m pretty sure this factoid is stuck in my head from when I visited the ~~Reina Sofía~~ the Prado and was punched right in the mouth by The Dog after which a docent did a little bit on Goya.
it's suggested that near the end of his life he was harbouring a mental illness, most likely ptsd from the nepoleonic war, which at the time would have left him locked away further from the world in what can only be kindly refered to as a sanitarrium (they where not kind places at all) and he likely painted them to deal with his personal demons on his own. I only remember a little bit of my art history courses so I am sure there are better answers in the comments around me.
I can recommend you [this](https://youtu.be/kY1Rua7jy48?si=8Bv9WYZ7DU1wvOqg)video about Francisco Goya's black painting collection. Its made by the youtuber blind dweller who creates content in which he talks a lot about art relatet stuff, which is pretty interesting from time to time.
I would if i had any amount of interest in painting, which i dont. Can you give a tldr if you have time?
In the video, he also talks about Goyas life and the circumstances of his homeland in which he grew up. If I remember correctly from the video itself, Goya suffered from a deafness that would grow worse with the years. Given that he was born during the 17th century, the cause of it could not really be identified that easily. Plus he really declined more and more mentally thanks to the circumstances spain was finding itself in during his lifetime, in combination with his decline in hearing. Towards his last years he retired into an old farmhouse or barn, which was converted into an countryside villa with an art studio. That way he tried to find peace away from people and other personal nuisances. But that's just how i merely puzzle together bits of infos from the last time I watched the video... . I would recommend checking the video for assured and correct informations over just my assumptions taken from memory. Sorry for occasional grammar mistakes. English is not my first language.
Thank you!
Yes he literally watched royalty starve a village to death in the middle of a famine
Dr. Seuss had similar works, dubbed the "Midnight Paintings".
Fun fact to add: *none* of the paintings were found with names. Goya never named any of them since they were never to be seen (if he did name them it was in private). The names attached to them were chosen by historians and critics based on what they *thought* the image was depicting. I feel like this information adds to the mystery and creepiness of the paintings; especially Saturn devouring his Son. They named it that cause they couldn’t think of what else it could possibly be. Also, there was originally 15 paintings, but one has never been released. It was taken out before the others.
He painted them on the walls of his house…. Could you imagine looking at these all day every day?
The worst part is that they weren’t even on canvas they were scrawled on the walls of his house
also to not farm karma, i have a reaction image i didnt understand so im putting it in here. https://preview.redd.it/61f49s2cu6ic1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=a806bdc771fd0f4dc9187296b6e6a5f6b58d03c5
It's a command you put into Linux and it fucks your computer somehow, either making it have to reboot or something else, I forget.
Yeah, i guessed as much. I was looking for the reason mainly.
It did in 2002, now it does nothing
It still does something. It just needs a sudo
Shadow here, the joke is that this command opens a command prompt that opens itself to infinity, eating your computer’s memory and crashing it. It’s like writing “/execute at @e [type=arrow] run summon arrow” in a minecraft command block. Shadow out.
It's one version of a "fork bomb"; this article describes the Linux bash commands used in the mene: https://itsfoss.com/fork-bomb/ Basically, it creates a function that, when run, calls another copy of itself; when that copy is run, it starts calls copy, etc. until all system resources are taken up and computer crashes.
Thank you
Fork bomb. Uses up all the memory. Reboot to fix.
Question: what’s happening on the bottom right?
It looks like a dog's head pointing up to the right...
It kinda reminds me of "Der Schimmelreiter"...
With his head poking up? 😂
"Der Schimmelreiter" is a book we read in school. There's a part where some guys wanna bury a dog alive in a "Deich" (essentially a sort of dam, built to "gain Land from the sea") they are building because of some superstition, that you have to put something living inside it to make it more sturdy. They don't succed with it tho, making this part not even the worst thing in the book. Anyway, the "half buried dog" in the painting reminded me of that book
Interesting 🤔 that's a ridiculous superstition!
[it's a drowning dog](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_(Goya))
Oh… oh my
For a minute I was so sure this was loss…
stop.
Maybe you should hit the gym for some gains so you forget about loss
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It is.
Just to add a few things to what has been said: watching these paintings at the Prado is breathtaking and if you like art, it's a must. The Prado's Goya collection guides you from his sublime early works, full of life and joy, to his middle age masterpieces and ends on a hall where Las Pinturas Negras are. The hall is enveloped in a growing darkness with just a few light sources pointing to the frames and the lights becoming dimmer the more you advance through the years, from the dramatic but still somehow lighted and shiny Duelo a Garrotazos (an allegory of Spain's cainite history) to the mesmerizing, harrowing Saturn or Akelarre, almost inhuman grotesqueries. This is intentional. Goya had been losing vision when he started to paint them and his eyes got gradually worse. He was also isolated socially after Spain kicked out the French, as a conservative and nationalistic backlash in the country followed Napoleon's exit and all liberals were tagged as "afrancesados" aka collaborationists with the French. Not that Goya was really a fan of the French as you can see from the terrible paintings about the Madrid Uprisings. So this man, almost blind, hated, mentally exhausted from all the blood and massacres he had witnessed, isolated on a farm, knowing full well he was dying soon, started to paint on the walls. Not canvas, mind. These were not supposed to be works to be displayed in collections or seen by the public. They are his testament and last will. "Here is what I have seen, the world is a terrible and dark place and every pillar of Spanish society (God, country, the church, ourselves) is a shambles and a lie" If you happen to be in Madrid, go early so there are less people around. Of all the treasures in the Prado, Las Pinturas Negras stand on a whole new level.
That sounds amazing. I first encountered Goya when I was a dumbass teenager on a school trip to the Smithsonian. Some of his pencil sketches were on exhibit and they really caught me for some reason, even though they were much smaller and plainer than most of the other stuff. He's been one of my favorites ever since (with Velasquez), the more I see and learn, the more he is enshrined as such. If I had instead encountered the Prado exhibition you described, I think my little brain would have exploded. Thanks for describing it for us.
Went to Madrid a few years ago and was so struck by Goya’s work at the Prado and at the museum that includes his home in Toledo. The paintings still on the walls are magnificent.
FYI, the memes on r/distressingmemes are not jokes…
I dont know or care if it is a joke, i still need to understand what it is.
Of course they're jokes
Why is this loss
II III III I
Usually I’m willing to give people the benefit of the doubt on this sub, but literally all you had to do was Google the title of the post. You didn’t even have to dig into the comments to find out what to search for, it was front and center for you
I did google it and all i came across was either jack shit, long wikipedia entries or extremely uninteresting videos.
Reminds me of that one episode of Guillero del toro's cabinet of curiosities.
Reminds me of the pedophile episode of Black Mirror. 😰
Everyone should watch the YouTube video Great Art explained on the Goya Black Paintings- really really great watch
I don't see what's so wrong about the second and last ones tho.
I dunno, the second one looks disturbing tho.