Don Manuel Osorio Manrique De Zuniga

2 Pages 578 Words

The Painting I have chosen to critically analyze is Don Manuel Osorio Manrique

De Zuniga. The great Francisco Goya painted it in 1784. Goya is considered to be

the “Father of Modern Art”. Goya’s art spanned a total of 60 years. He began painting

in the late Baroque period.


The painting consists of a boy dressed in an extravagant red suit. holding a string

attached to a birds leg. Behind the boy at his feet are three cats staring attentively at the

pet bird. Two of the cats are very visible, but the third you have to look very close to see

the faint eyes. There are also yellow canaries in a cage.


Although many of Goya’s great works were in a neo-classical style this

portrait of Don Manuel was done in a Baroque style. By painting the suit of the boy red

Goya makes the viewers eye immediately notice the boy before anything else in the

painting. The brush technique Goya used in painting the lace of the boys collar and cuffs

simulates the texture of hand-made lace perfectly. Goya also the way the light is

reflected off of the white sash suggests it is made of silk, the fabric of the wealthy. The

composition in this painting is of a triangle to keep the painting united. The unity is

further heightened by the delicate balance of the portrait using subtle lights and darks on

opposing sides and the placement of almost equal forms at feet of Don Manuel.


Though Goya was restricted to painting a portrait he did a marvelous job of

depicting the character of Don Manuel. Symbolism is the key to understanding the

character of Don Manuel. It begins with the symbolism of the lace and silk to show the

wealth of the Don and the caged birds which symbolize innocence in Baroque art. In

Christian art the bird symbolizes the soul. Also by understanding the animal relationship
between cats and birds(Predator-Prey) and the way they stare of the bi...