Finding Goya in Madrid

One of the true joys of living in Spain is the opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest works of art in their original settings. On a day like today, Francisco de Goya, one of Spain's greatest painters, was born. Most tourists who come to Spain, visit El Prado Museum where you can find a whole section dedicated to Goya, but few decide to trace his footsteps through Madrid.
Every time I go to Madrid, I try to find something I haven't visited before. So on this trip I decided to find Goya in other places besides El Prado.

I took a train to Principe Pio Station and walked down an avenue called Paseo de la Florida. There on the right were two identical chapels or hermitages called "Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida" (Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of la Florida). Goya's tomb is inside one of them, now a museum. This hermitage not only houses Goya's remains, but one of his least known masterpieces. The dome and ceiling are painted with his frescoes sometimes referred to as "Goya's Sistine Chapel".

I was surprised to see that there were very few tourists, eventhough the admission was free. They were probably all standing in line at El Prado.


Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida & Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen