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Classic Painting May Not Be Goya's

Colossus pulled at last minute from Prado exhibition

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 14, 2008 8:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – Madrid's Prado Museum tomorrow opens a major exhibition, Goya in Times of War, but while the show will contain many of the master's most famous paintings from the Napoleonic invasion, his major 1808 work The Colossus has been withdrawn. The reason? After two centuries, art historians say the work might not be Goya's at all.

The painting of a naked giant towering over a terrified fleeing crowd is a classic, but several years ago the show's lead curator voiced her doubts about its authenticity. As art historians have debated the Goya attribution ever more feverishly, the Prado decided at the last minute to pull the work without comment. "If the museum doesn't like it, they should tell us why," one scholar told the Independent.

The Colossus, attributed to Goya, has been pulled from a major exhibition in Madrid amid questions about its authenticity.
The Colossus, attributed to Goya, has been pulled from a major exhibition in Madrid amid questions about its authenticity.   (Wikimedia Commons)
Two women and a girl look at Goya's 2nd and 3rd of May paintings, depicting the gruesome battle to defend Madrid, at the Prado.
Two women and a girl look at Goya's 2nd and 3rd of May paintings, depicting the gruesome battle to defend Madrid, at the Prado.   (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
A journalist takes notes near the 2nd of May painting, depicting the gruesome battle to defend Madrid, by Francisco de Goya at the Prado.
A journalist takes notes near the 2nd of May painting, depicting the gruesome battle to defend Madrid, by Francisco de Goya at the Prado.   (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
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