Detail of Majas on a Balcony by Goya in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2007

Majas on a Balcony
Attributed to Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)
Oil on canvas; 76 3/4 x 49 1/2in. (194.9 x 125.7cm)
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.10)

The theme of women on a balcony overseen by watchful, somewhat threatening male companions strongly engaged Goya, who treated this subject in a more sinister manner in a painting now in a private collection. Dating from about 1810 the latter is among Goya's masterpieces. The Metropolitan's painting is sometimes considered a variant composition, its attribution questioned by some experts. Expressively and stylistically, however, the two paintings are quite different: the sweetly smiling young women in our picture appear to be the protected daughters of the upper class, dressed in the then fashionable "maja" style, whereas the "majas" in the other painting are generally understood to be prostitutes.

The Metropolitan's painting has suffered from abrasion and past overcleaning.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/europe...