Self-Portrait in a Cocked Hat c. 1790

This is Francisco de Goya’s self-portrait in brown wash. Made sometime during his lifetime which spanned from the late 18th to the early 19th century, the portrait gives us an intimate glimpse into the artist’s identity and his place in a society undergoing dramatic change. Dressed in what appears to be military garb, Goya presents himself with a cocked hat, a symbol of authority and status. But Goya was not a military man; he was a court painter navigating the complexities of power and patronage. How was he positioning himself? Perhaps, he saw himself as a combatant of sorts, fighting to capture the truth, through his art, of a decaying social order. As Spain teetered on the edge of revolution and war, Goya, like many artists, was caught between tradition and modernity, between loyalty to the crown and a desire for change. What is clear is that Goya used the self-portrait to explore his own ambiguous identity during a time of profound political and social upheaval.