Skip to main content

Primary sourcePainting1820

Self-Portrait with Dr Arrieta

Francisco Goya · 1820

Goya's painting of himself gravely ill, supported by the doctor who saved his life in 1819, made as a gift of gratitude.

Goya painted himself here, gravely ill, as a personal gift of thanks to the doctor who saved his life.

Ask Francisco Goya about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Painting of a man in a dark green coat holding a small glass to the throat of a pale, slumped figure in a brown coat, whose head tilts back. Two shadowy figures stand in the background against a dark room.
Francisco Goya, Self-Portrait with Dr Arrieta, 1820. Minneapolis Institute of Art.

About this source

What it is

Francisco Goya painted this oil-on-canvas work in 1820, showing himself weak and ill, supported by his physician Eugenio García Arrieta. An inscription below the figures explains that Goya made it in gratitude to Arrieta for saving his life during a dangerous illness at the end of 1819. The painting is now held by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Why it matters

Goya gave this painting to Arrieta as a personal gift, not a commission, making it an unusually direct and intimate testimony in both image and written word. Scholars see it as resembling a religious ex-voto, but turned secular: instead of thanking God, Goya thanks a doctor and medicine for his survival. It shows Goya's vulnerability in old age and his personal relationship with the man who treated him.

Look closer

  • What does the inscription add that the image alone could not tell us?
  • How do the colours and poses of Goya and Arrieta show their different states of health?
  • Why might Goya have chosen to paint this scene instead of writing a letter of thanks?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Francisco Goya on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Francisco Goya sources

Meet the AI Francisco Goya →
Painting of a nighttime execution. On the left, a man in a white shirt and yellow trousers throws his arms up while other prisoners cover their faces or kneel. Bodies lie bloodied on the ground in the foreground. On the right, a row of soldiers in dark shakos aims muskets at the prisoners, beside a lantern-lit box. A town with a church tower sits under a dark sky.Painting

Secondary source

The Third of May 1808

Francisco Goya · 1814

Black and white etching of Goya's Disasters of War series, plate 2, titled 'Con razón ó sin ella'. A bearded man in dark clothing, arm outstretched, is pushed back by a soldier thrusting a rifle with bayonet; another soldier in a tall hat stands behind. Bodies lie on the ground at left, and a crowd of figures is crouched in the background.Painting

Primary source

The Disasters of War

Francisco Goya · 1810-1820

Etching showing a standing man in pale clothing with head bowed, leaning against a wooden post, while a seated figure and a lying body in the foreground appear in dark shadow. Plate labeled 'Y no hai remedio' beneath the image.Painting

Primary source

Y no hai remedio

Francisco de Goya · c. 1810-1814 (published 1863)

Etching from Goya's Caprichos, plate 43. A sleeping man rests his head on a desk with his arms folded while owls, bats, and a cat gather around him in a dark sky. Caption reads 'El sueño de la razón produce monstruos.' Number 43 in the top right corner.Painting

Primary source

Caprichos

Francisco Goya · 1799 (created 1797-1798)

Etching of a man asleep with his head on his arms at a desk, surrounded by owls, bats, and a cat. Inscription in the lower left reads 'El sueño de la razón produce monstruos'. Dark, hatched lines on a light ground.Painting

Primary source

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Francisco Goya · 1797-1799

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Francisco Goya now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions