Painter. He was born in a small village of Fuendetodos, in the northeastern Spanish province of Aragon. His family moved to Zaragoza when Francisco was 4 years old. In 1773 he married Josefa Bayeu, who was with the royal court. In 1775 Goya made 9 tapestries, for King Charles III. Many times Goya attempted to be the court painter but was always rejected. On June 29, 1779 the court painter died and then after that Goya applied for the position but was again rejected. In July 1780, Goya was elected to the Royal Academy of San Fernando, the most important Art Academy of Spain. He became the assistant director of painting in 1785. When the Church of San Francisco el Grande was built in 1781, the king chose Goya and seven others to decorate it. He also won the commission to paint the largest of the church’s altar pieces. Goya and his wife then moved in with the royal family in August and September 1783. He became one of the close friends of the king and as he lived with the royal family he was treated as a prince. Goya suffered from noises in his head, loss of balance, loss of vision, delirium, and paralysis. Because of this in 1792, he became permanently deaf. On October 31, 1799, the prime minister Luis de Urquijo honored Goya with the highest position a Spanish artist could achieve, first court painter. In 1818 after having witnessed the excesses and the attempt to enforce an absolutist regime by Ferdinand VII, Goya decides to leave Spain and he settle in Southern France in Bordeaux where he died. One of his famous painting is “Nude Maja.” (bio by: Jelena)