Francisco Goya1746 - 1828 Born: March 30, 1746, Fuendetodos,
Spain Died: April 16, 1828, Bordeaux, France Francisco Goya,
sometimes thought of as the first "modern" artist, was born in a
small town in Spain's Aragon province to working class parents
in 1746. Although legends persist about an unfortunate childhood
in poverty, his parents were actually members of the Spanish
lower nobility, and his father was granted a job promotion as a
master gilder in the town of Zaragoza in 1760, which allowed the
young Goya to obtain a solid education at a school taught by
Piarist priests. Upon leaving school, Goya spent about four
years studying drawing and painting in the Zaragoza workshop of
Jose Lujan. While there, he mostly copied prints of Italian
masterpieces, reportedly becoming quite bored by the task, but
the practice provided him with valuable skill in drafting. He
also met his future brothers-in-law, Francisco and Ramon Bayeu,
at Lujan's studio; the two men would become significant
colleagues in the course of G