Occupational Medicine 2013;63:5–6
doi:10.1093/occmed/kqs197
Art and Occupation
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
The Injured Mason (El albañil herido) 1786–1787
The late afternoon sun silhouettes the timber frame of a
building under construction as the backcloth to an alltoo-familiar industrial scene. Two men (a stone­mason
in a hat and a younger colleague in a blue jacket), their
faces lined with sympathy and concern, are carrying
the eponymous Mason away from the worksite. He has
no obvious wounds and no visible signs of bleeding,
but his drooped head and closed eyes suggest unconsciousness perhaps due to a head injury from the hoist
visible in the background or a fall from the scaffolding.
This large (268 × 110 cm), theatrically-posed, oil painting (Prado Museum Madrid) was a preparatory ‘cartoon’
for one of a series of tapestries to be made at the Real
Fábrica de Tapices, Madrid where Goya was an appointed
but unpaid artist [1]. The tapestries were destined for the
dining room of the El Pardo palace, winter home of the
Prince of the Asturias (heir to the Spanish throne). In
Goya’s smaller, preliminary canvas, The Drunken Mason,
the two rescuers appear to be smirking at their injured,
inebriated workmate, who has lost a shoe and is bleeding from the temple [2]. However, in The Injured Mason,
their mockery has given way to compassion, completely
altering the painting’s mood and meaning. Goya (greatly
in need of income and status) was probably responding
to the wishes of his patron, King Carlos III, who had
recently issued a royal decree on scaffolding safety and
compensation for injured building workers and their families [1]. When Carlos died in 1788, the El Pardo palace
project was abandoned and the tapestry never made, but
the Real Fábrica de Tapices continues to manufacture and
repair tapestries and has a collection of over 2500 original
cartoons and drawings [3].
Francisco Goya was born in Fuendetodos near
Zaragossa (1746) son of a master gilder of altarpieces.
At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to a local artist, José
Lusán. Having twice competed unsuccessfully for scholarships to the Madrid Royal Academy, he went to Rome to
continue his studies (1769–1771) [4]. In 1773 he married
Josefa, sister of Francisco Bayeu court painter to the King
of Spain and prime mover in Goya’s appointment as a tapestry artist. Thereafter Goya’s career progressed steadily,
and he was elected to the Royal Academy in 1780, becoming Deputy Director in 1785. A year later he was appointed
one of the ‘Painters to the King’ and in 1789 promoted to
‘Painter to the Royal Household’ adding the aristocratic
‘de’ to his name [5]. At the age of 46, Goya suffered a
severe, dis­abling illness, which featured headache, deafness,
Please note that this image could not be
reproduced due to restrictions from the
rights holder
The Injured Mason, 1786–7, Goya y Lucientes, Francisco Jose de.
© Prado, Madrid, Spain/The Bridgeman Art Library.
© The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine.
All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected]
6 Occupational Medicine
tinnitus, vertigo and visual disturbance. Suggested causes
have included lead poisoning, syphilis, meningitis, encephalitis and malaria (complicated by quinine toxicity), as well
as the rarer Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada, Susac and Cogan syndromes [6]. Goya recovered slowly over several months
but was left permanently deaf and plagued by morbid and
bizarre ‘visions’ [7]. Nevertheless, despite his disabilities
he continued to paint—famously creating the Nude Maja
(1799–1800) [8]. During Napoleon’s occupation of Spain,
Goya managed to retain his appointment as a royal painter,
and on the monarchy’s return (1814), he produced the epic
Third of May, 1808. After a further bout of illness, he withdrew to a country house on the outskirts of Madrid (1819)
where over the next 4 years he painted several large, dark
and disturbing murals known as las pinturas negras (including the renowned Saturn Devouring His Son), which were
eventually transferred on canvas to the Prado Museum [9].
In 1824, Goya moved to France where he carried on drawing and painting until his death in Bordeaux (1828) aged
82. His remains were later transferred to Madrid and buried at the church of San Antonio de la, Florida, where he
had previously painted frescoes [5].
Goya’s output was enormous with some 700 paintings,
300 prints and nearly 1000 drawings surviving, and he may
be uniquely placed as one of the few if not the only artist to have a composition directly influenced by European
health and safety legislation. Meanwhile, the construction
industry in Spain continues to present many challenges
[10] although nowadays an Injured Mason would probably expect to benefit from access to that country’s burgeoning rehabilitation services [11]. However, in the UK,
despite widespread expressions of support from governments, employers’ organizations, trade unions and health
professionals, rehabilitation in the workplace remains a
Cinderella discipline [12]. Are managers too harassed,
union officials too protective, employees too suspicious or
occupational health staff too impotent to make it work?
Mike McKiernan
e-mail: [email protected]
References
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