Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition enters the account through its March 1815 questioning of Francisco de Goya about the two Maja paintings. Its intervention gives the paintings a consequential institutional history, yet leaves their commission and purpose unresolved: Goya was asked to identify himself as their painter and explain why, for whom, and to what end he had made them, but those questions were never answered.

The 1815 Inquiry

In March 1815, the Spanish Inquisition summoned Goya over the two paintings. The questions were specific: he was asked to acknowledge that he had painted them, state his reasons for doing so, identify who commissioned them, and explain their intended purpose. The passage records the demands of the inquiry, not Goya’s responses; none of the questions was answered.

An Unresolved Commission

The interrogation did not settle who had commissioned the works. The account emphasizes that, to the present, no one knows with certainty on whose commission the paintings were made. The inquiry thus frames the paintings as objects of scrutiny while leaving their origins opaque: it documents what the authorities wanted to know, but supplies no definitive answer about patronage or purpose.