Madrid Tapas Theme Tours

Goya's Madrid

The Great Artist's Life and Times

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This is our new and very adventurous Theme & Tapa Tour starting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando where Goya after being rejected twice finally received his Degree. We visit the rooms showing his works dealing with royalty, inquisition and children at play. We see his original etching plates for his series Caprichos, his condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which he lived. Here also is a period a printing press. He presented these plates to the king in return for a pension for his. So relevant are these prints, especially the series The Disasters of War, that many continue to be used as illustrations of the atrocities of war.

Goya, Self Portrait in the Studio

We walk to nearby Puerta del Sol where the famous uprising against Napoleon’s troops took place. Goya's masterpiece 'Dos de Mayo', which hangs in the Prado, dramatically captures the horrific sight that he personally witnessed of the slaughter inflicted by the dreaded Mameluke cavalry.

Our singular route takes us to San Francisco el Grande to admire his painting dedicated to San Bernardo circa 1781 and then the short walk to the Royal Palace where Goya reached the heady heights of Court Painter to the Bourbon King Charles IV.  Here we visit the royal rooms and his famous paintings hanging in all their splendour from King Charles III to his grandson, the wretched King Ferdinand VII.

After drinks & tapas, we go to the wonderful church of San Antonio de la Florida. Here Goya painted the small interior dome. The scene depicts the Saint resurrecting a man in order for him to identify the real murderer after San Antonio's own father had been wrongly accused.
Now time to lay a rose on the great artist's tomb. Although he died in France, Goya’s remains were returned to Spain later and it was decided to place them here. Only then did they discover part of his body was missing!

Tours are only available to Wellington Society Members

This is a 1/2 day tour starting in the morning. It includes two refreshment stops, transport & entrance fees. Lunch optional by San Antonio chapel

90 € per person, minimum 2 people
90 € each additional
Family & group prices upon request.