Cohen, Ronald — Goya, la Boda, the Royal Modello

London, Trafalgar Fine Art Publications, 2000. Hardcover. Maroon cloth with color illus. laid on front cover, gilt letters on spine & front cover, 58 pp. color & BW illus. Focuses on this single piece by Spanish romance artist Francisco Goya (1746-1828). "In January 1789 King Carlos IV of Spain commissioned Goya to paint a series of designs (or cartoons) for tapestries to hang in his study at El Escorial, the royal palace near Madrid. On 20th April 1790 the king specified that these should portray amusing country-scenes. This was to be Goya's last series of tapestry designs and a favourite among them is undoubtedly Goya's cartoon for La Boda (which is also known as The Wedding-Party). Goya's published correspondence includes a letter of 3rd June 1791 from Goya to his brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu, where the painter states that he had almost-finished the prototype (or modello) for the largest design of the series i.e. that for La Boda. The first entry in this present publication endeavours to prove that the version of La Boda from the Berger collection in Jersey must be the modello to which Goya referred in his letter of 1791." (foreword) Also included here are two previous unpublished studies on the painting by Jose Gudiol and Eric Young, as well as these two technical reports: "La Boda, Attributed to Goya, Technical Report" by Elizabeth Sheldon, and "A Chemical and Radiographic Analysis of the Painting Materials and Techniques of the Modello for La Boda" by Enrique Parra. VG- (Some scuffs to cover, a ding at the top edge, pages are tanning at margin edges; plates are good.) .