Technical analysis of two Francisco de Goya’s paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest

The Water-Carrier and The Knife-Grinder by Francisco Goya are undoubtedly two of the finest and best-known paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. They are also the most studied among the five canvases by Goya owned by the museum, and were among the first paintings studied by X-radiography in the 1950s. X-ray revealed some features of Goya’s working method and some alterations he made – for example in the hairstyle of the woman and her gaze – to achieve the expression of the composition he was looking for. In 2012, The Water-Carrier was subjected to XRF paint analysis that brought to light different inorganic elements present in the painting materials

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