La maja desnuda

An oil painting by Francisco Goya, completed around 1800, depicting a nude woman reclining on a bed and looking directly at the viewer.

La maja vestida: A painting by Francisco Goya showing a clothed woman reclining in a pose similar to La maja desnuda. Goya’s paired clothed portrait offers the closest direct comparison to the nude.
Pepita Tudó: A Spanish aristocrat and longtime companion of Manuel Godoy. She has often been proposed as the model for the maja paintings, without conclusive evidence.
Reclining nude: A figure represented lying back with the body exposed, a recurring subject in Western art. Goya adapts this established pose while directing the figure’s gaze outward.
Censorship: The suppression or restriction of expression by an authority. The Inquisition’s inquiry shows how the painting became subject to official scrutiny.
Museo del Prado: Madrid’s national art museum, holding major collections of European painting. The painting entered the Prado’s collection in 1901 and is displayed there.
María Teresa de Vallabriga: A Spanish noblewoman and the wife of Infante Luis, brother of Charles III. A competing identification links the model to aristocratic women, but no attribution is established.
Direct gaze: A visual device in which a depicted person looks outward toward the viewer. The woman’s unflinching gaze makes the image feel unusually confrontational.
Eroticism: The expression or evocation of sexual desire in art, literature, or other media. The painting’s intimate pose and direct gaze have shaped its erotic interpretation.
Manuel Godoy: A Spanish statesman who served as chief minister under Charles IV. The paintings were associated with Godoy’s private collection, though their original commission remains uncertain.
Charles IV of Spain: King of Spain from 1788 until his abdication in 1808. Goya painted at the royal court during Charles IV’s reign, the period associated with the work.