Only Goya, Only God

Br. Mauricio de María Correa Reyes, LC

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Duchess of Alba, 1797. The Hispanic Museum and Library, New York City

A universal saying declares with wisdom: “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. However, what is the price of love? I was overwhelmed by this question during our group visit to the Hispanic Museum and Library; and the answer came in a providential way. I was exhausted after a long day in the noisy streets of New York City. My class was about to finish the tour in the Hispanic Museum when suddenly, Mrs. Joyner, filled with the light of the Holy Ghost, raised her hand, asking the guide to speak to us about Goya’s Duchess of Alba, that is located in one of the corners of the main chamber of the Museum. Honestly, my tiredness prevented me from noting this masterpiece before then.

As soon as I gazed at Goya’s painting, I was amazed by its spacious and balanced composition, where a noblewoman, María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez de Toledo y Silva Bazán, is set against an expansive and muted background. The size of the painting invites the viewer to come close to appreciate each subtle detail that Goya has painted with tremendous detail. Her stance is firm yet graceful, with her right hand pointing downward to the sand beneath her feet, where Goya has written the words: “Sólo Goya”(Only Goya). This simple yet bold inscription feels like an intimate confession as if Goya is telling the viewer that he is the only one with the capacity to love and portray the beauty of this duchess.

“The painting had great personal significance for the artist since he kept it in his studio long after the duchess’s death, and Jean-Marie-Jerôme Fleuriot, a French visitor to Madrid, declared that the Duchess of Alba has not a single hair on her head that does not awaken desire”(1).

One of the most fascinating aspects of this painting is the Duchess’s gaze. Her eyes keep many secrets. Secrets that only her heart knows. Her gaze expresses curiosity and pride, like someone aware of her beauty. However, at the same time, I perceived a vulnerability behind that wealth and pride in her expression. What did she feel when she stood before Goya and allowed herself to be immortalized by him? As I quoted before, this painting was not for the Duchess but for Goya himself.

Indeed, the technique was not his goal for the painting. Nevertheless, the perfection of the method helps to achieve the beauty of the painting itself. And if art is poetry in motion, there is no doubt that Goya left to humanity one of the best love poems in history. A love poem that remained hidden years ago in his studio and, at the very end, would be the only eyewitness of his mysterious relationship with the Duchess of Alba.

As a brother in formation, I will use this tremendous masterpiece as an allegory of the love of God. God, like Goya, is the painter of our soul, body, and life. He paints our lives with unique techniques and delicate brushstrokes, creating the best love poem that has never existed before. Indeed, the very Creator of the universe is taking the time to finish this masterpiece. It is a masterpiece that portrays the truth, with moments of light and shadow, with thin and precise lines, and others that are coarser and more indefinite. However, it is a work that exudes beauty.

Nevertheless, God is a jealous God, and because of that, He will write in the sand of our life “Solo Dios” or “Only God”, as Goya did in his painting. He wants this work for His studio. Nonetheless, He respects our liberty and will let us go where the Spirit leads. “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. This makes no sense at all. However, he who has not committed the slightest nonsense for love has never been in love. Therefore, the love of God is rational and sensitive because, as Goya said, “the sleep of reason produces monsters”(2).

Therefore, what is the price of love? Lose everything to win everything? Thank you, Goya, for loving and giving us this extraordinary portrait of the Duchess of Alba as a reminder that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Foot Notes