In
Istanbul, there stands a brick building. It is small, looks very insignificant, and we can only find it by walking far away from anything important. It is called the Chora. But, while it seems so unimportant from the outside, inside it is too beautiful for words.
There is a similar building in Madrid, Spain. It is small, looks very insignificant, and we can only find it by walking far away from anything important. It is called the Chapel (Little Church) of Saint Anthony. But, while it seems so unimportant from the outside, inside it also is too beautiful for words.
In 1792, Carlos 4
th, king of
Spain, ordered this little church to be built in the very big garden next to his palace. In 1798 Carlos paid Francisco de Goya to decorate the inside of it.
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746 in Fuendetodos, Spain. Carlos 4th made Goya his official court painter in 1789. Sometime early in 1793, Goya got very sick. He recovered after many months but the sickness left him deaf. A changed man, he continued to draw and paint for many years. He died on April 16, 1828, in Bordeaux, France.
After Carlos 4
th commissioned him to decorate the Little C
hurch of St. Anthony, Goya worked hard on it for six months. Goya used all his skill and imagination to paint St. Anthony with great sympathy, beauty, and life. In the end, he created a place which, like the Chora, is too beautiful for words.
Copyright © 2012 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.
