Interior of a Prison

Under a gloomy archway are seven prisoners with hands and feet bound by heavy chains. They are seen in a variety of postures, some seated or leaning against a wall, another lying on the ground with his head towards the spectator. In this small, delicately painted picture Goya has presented us with a scene dominated by an atmosphere of utter desolation. The prison scene belongs to a series of twelve ‘cabinet’ pictures that Goya painted on tinplate between 1793 and 1794 during his convalescence from his mystery illness. In 1862 John and Joséphine Bowes made several purchases at the sale of the collection of the Conde de Quinto who had died in 1860. The Conde de Quinto was a politician, courtier, writer and art collector who had built up a magnificent collection facilitated by his position as Director of the Museo de la Trinidad in Madrid. The Boweses purchased this painting together with Goya’s portrait of Juan Antonio Melendéz Valdés and over seventy other Spanish paintings.

Title: Interior of a Prison