Goya’s Dome – La Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

La Ermita de San Antonio

One of the true joys of living in Europe is the opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest works of art in their original settings.  Whether it’s the Sistine Chapel, a Bernini sculpture, or an El Greco tucked away in a small Toledo chapel, these works are simply mesmerizing when seen as the artist originally intended.  Although Madrid has a cache of amazing artwork, most of it is displayed in a museum setting.  This is largely due to the fact that in comparison to other European cities, Madrid is still rather young.  One exception to this rule that I decided to seek out this past week is the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida.  This tiny hermitage is the home to Francisco Goya’s image of the Miracle of St. Anthony of Padua.

Francisco Goya is regarded by most historians as the last of the old Masters.  He was born in the small town of Fuendetodos, Spain in 1746.  Unlike many of the world’s greatest painters, Goya was largely unknown into his 30’s.  At that time he began to work with the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid where he produced cartoons that were woven into tapestries for famous sights like El Escorial and the Royal Palace of El Pardo.  His success with the Royal Tapestry factory and with a series of prints called “Los Caprichos” brought him the notoriety that led to his appointment as the first court painter in 1799. 

Goya’s work at the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida was commissioned and begun in 1798, after he became a court painter, but before he was named the first court painter.  The dome and frescoes he painted took the artist about six months to complete.  Goya’s work on the structure would have taken place just after the church was completed.  The Ermita was designed and built by Felipe Fontana from 1792 to 1798.  In those days the hermitage was located well outside of the city on the other side of the Manzanares River.  Today the church is located in a residential neighborhood, very near to the Principe Pio train station that is one of Madrid’s largest.

Goya's Dome depicting Saint Anthony's Miracle

The work that Goya was commissioned to do in the church was a representation of a miracle of St. Anthony of Padua.  The story behind Goya’s image is that St. Anthony’s father was accused of murder in the Saint’s home country of Portugal.  Miraculously, St. Anthony “flew” from Padua to Lisbon where he asked that the corpse of the murdered man be brought forward.  Once the man’s body was present, St. Anthony raised him from the dead so that he could give testimony that would absolve his father of the crime.  Immediately after clearing his father’s name, the dead man slunk back into his grave.  Goya’s dome is painted to reflect the moment when the murdered man came forward and gave his testimony.

Although Goya’s work on the dome of St. Anthony’s is a masterpiece, it is also fairly unconventional.  For starters, he relocated the miracle from 13^th century Lisbon, to contemporary Madrid.  Goya also painted the church in a manner that many would consider upside down.  Traditionally, an image like the Miracle of St. Anthony would be painted with the earth below and the angels above.  In Goya’s image, the trial takes place in the dome while the angels flutter about on the ceiling below.

Interior of Ermita de San Antonio showing the angels painted below the dome.

In addition to Goya’s masterpiece, the church is also now that final resting place of the great artist.  In 1928 Goya’s remains were buried under the altar of the church.  This of course was 100 years AFTER the artist’s death.  Goya was originally buried in Bordeaux, France, where he had been living at the time of his death in 1828.  In 1901, the Spanish government deemed it inappropriate that one of their greatest artists should be buried in foreign soil.  The body was exhumed and moved to Madrid.  Nothing is written of where his remains were kept between 1901 and 1928.  Also in 1928, an identical chapel was built right next door to Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida.  This allowed Goya’s final resting place and dome to be used exclusively as a museum. 

One interesting note is that when Goya was reburied in the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, his skull was missing.  It has never been found.

Photo showing the two identical chapels.  The one in the foreground contains Goya's final resting place.