The Kite by Francisco Goya

Travel photography Family-friendly: true

1777-1778. Oil on canvas, 269 x 285 cm.

In Goya's own words, the scene depicts some young people who have "gone out to the country to fly a kite". The couples that appear behind the main group show that this subject is a pretext allowing the painter to represent the flirting and gallantry inherent in Majo society. The background building has been interpreted as an astronomical observatory, which was a much discussed project during Charles III's reign.This was a customary argument in other series by Goya, such as the etchings from his Caprichos. This is one of the cartoons for tapestries on everyday subjects intended to hang in the dining room of the Prince and Princess of Asturias (the future Carlos IV and his wife Maria Luisa de Parma) at El Escorial. Access to the series of ten tapestry cartoons destined for the dining room of the Prince and Princess of Asturias at the palace of El Pardo: The Picnic; Dance on the Banks of the Manzanares; A Fight at the Venta Nueva; An Avenue in Andalusia or The Maja and the cloaked Men; The Drinker; The Parasol; The Kite; The Card Players; Children blowing up a Bladder; Boys Picking Fruit.