TO THE BEGINNINGFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes, better known as Francisco Goya, was born in 1746 in Fuendetodos, Spain. This occurred during the era of Romanticism, the artistic period that glorified emotion, imagination, and nature. He moved to Zaragoza with his family, where he began studying art at the age of 14. Goya studied with local artist José Luzán Martínez, his teacher. He learned to paint by copying the styles of other artists, such as Diego Velázquez and Rembrandt. Subsequently, Goya moved to Madrid. There he worked with the other painters Francisco and Ramón Bayeu y Subías, who were brothers. He married the brothers' sister in 1773, Josefa Bayeu. Before his marriage he had traveled to Italy, where he participated in drawing competitions (around 1770-1771). Even though he failed to win these competitions, the judges still liked his art. PAINTINGS OF THE SPANISH COURT Goya soon began working for the Royal Tapestry Factory in 1775-1792 at the request of the German painter Anton Raphael Mengs. He created tapestry cartons, which are patterns used to weave tapestries. His projects were also present...