Goya Network
Mapping Goya's Impact in 19th-Century France and Spain
Mapping Goya's Impact in 19th-Century France and Spain
Click a node (an individual) or edge (a connection between two individuals) to view the data they contain.
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📣 Forthcoming (2025): "The Goya Network: Mapping Goya's Impact in 19th-Century France and Spain", to be published in Leonardo, a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the MIT Press covering the application of contemporary science and technology to the arts and music.
Introduction: Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, networks of artists, writers, collectors and intellectuals were crucial for artistic production, as well as for the dissemination and understanding of historical figures. Mapping these connections allows us to better understand the dynamics of sociability and the circulation of ideas. In recent years, projects in the Digital Humanities have demonstrated the potential of network analysis to illuminate historical artistic milieus, such as the Thorvaldsen Letter Archive, Mapping the Republic of Letters (University of Stanford), Early Modern Letters Online (EMLO) (University of Oxford), Mapping Rome, and Collective Biographies of Women (Alison Booth, University of Virginia).
The Goya Network builds on these methods, offering an interactive database that maps the social and professional relationships surrounding the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, focusing on his connections with artists, critics, and collectors in 19th-century Spain and France. Unlike traditional studies of his work, this project emphasizes the relational context that shaped Goya’s legacy, offering a novel tool for the study of historical artists’ social networks. As a ‘living’ database, it facilitates cross-disciplinary collaboration and serves as both a research tool and a public resource, providing insight into the scope of Goya’s influence and the reception of his work.
Origin: This is a research-based digital project developed by Paula Fayos-Pérez as part of her postdoctoral work on Goya's social and professional networks. It is a continuation of the research done during her PhD (University of Cambridge, 2018) (repository), which was later transformed into a book: Goya’s Caprichos in Nineteenth-Century France. Politics of the Grotesque (CEEH, 2024).
User guide: There is data contained in each node (individual) and edge (connection between two individuals). On the nodes, users can see biographic information as well as artistic/literary production, art collection and link to Goya's work. On the edges, one can see the relationship type, correspondence, collaborations, and others. Edges in grey/silver colour are direct connections (friends, colleagues, relatives, acquaintances, etc.), while edges in golden colour are secondary connections (e.g. artists and writers who copied or wrote about Goya but never met him in person). The size of the nodes is proportional to the number of edges (connections) they hold.
Nature of the project: The Goya Network is conceived as a collaborative, crowd-sourced database with the aim of becoming a useful tool for scholars, students and the general public of Goya. We welcome contributions by art historians, historians, Hispanists, lecturers and curators specialised in Goya, 19th-century Spain, 19th-century France and in any of the members of the network (e.g. Federico Madrazo, Prosper Mérimée, Eugène Delacroix, etc.). To submit a contribution, please see the Contributions section on the website below.
Team: The project began with initial contributions by Anita L Verő, PhD in Artificial Intelligence (University of Cambridge, 2022), computer scientist and founder of ConsonantAI.
Methodology: Art historical research: based on bibliographic and archival sources.
Web development: built using HTML and JavaScript, with structured data in JSON, and version control and deployment through GitHub, developed with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Funding: This project is supported by a Leonardo Grant (Beca Leonardo) from the BBVA Foundation.
Copyright: The Goya Network is protected by notarial deed (Madrid, 2025).
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This section lists the bibliographic sources used throughout the project. References in nodes and edges appear as short citations (e.g. Adhémar 1958).
The issue of attribution in Goya:
When studying Goya's work, it is important to bear in mind that, due to the enormous demand for his work since the artist's lifetime (which far exceeds the supply of authentic pieces), countless copies, imitations and pastiches have been produced, particularly in 19th-century Spain and France. Many of these continue to be exhibited as genuine 'Goyas' (or, more euphemistically, 'attributed to Goya', or even 'Goya's workshop') in museums around the world, driven by economic interests and social status. New 'goyas' appear every year as well in art galleries, dealers, and private collections.
To explore Francisco de Goya’s artworks, you can consult the following resources:
1.
Goya at the Prado:
Artworks (paintings, prints and drawings) held at the Prado Museum, documents, printed references, and digital library.
2.
Fundación Goya en Aragón:
An online catalogue of Goya’s works, organised by the Fundación Goya en Aragón (an institution of the Aragón Government). It includes descriptions, provenance, bibliography, and images. This catalogue, however, gathers all works ever attributed to Goya, including copies and pastiches.
3. Wikipedia:
A comprehensive, crowd-sourced overview of Goya’s works, which are schematically displayed in a table, showing title, image, date, location and attribution.
List of Works by Francisco de Goya
(English) - Paintings and Prints
Cuadros de Goya
(Spanish) - Paintings (non exhaustive)
Rights: protected by notarial deed (Madrid, 2025)
The Goya Network is conceived as a collaborative, crowd-sourced database.
Contributions and suggestions are welcome and encouraged, and contributors will be credited if requested.