Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida
Encyclopedia
The Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida is a Neoclassical
chapel in central Madrid
. The chapel is best known for its ceiling and dome frescoes by Goya. It is also his burial place.
.
The structure was declared a national monument in 1905. In 1919 Goya's remains were transferred here from Bordeaux
, where he had died in 1828. In 1928 an identical chapel was built alongside the original, in order to allow the original to be converted into a museum.
On every June 13, the chapel becomes the site of a lively pilgrimage in which young unwed women come to pray to Saint Anthony and to ask for a partner.
. On the main cupola of the chapel Goya depicted Saint Anthony raising a dead man; instead of portraying the scene as occurring in thirteenth-century Lisbon, Goya relocated the miracle to contemporary Madrid.
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
chapel in central Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. The chapel is best known for its ceiling and dome frescoes by Goya. It is also his burial place.
History
The chapel was built in the general location of two prior chapels built in the 1730s, which were on the land of a farm called La Florida. The present structure was built by Felipe Fontana from 1792 to 1798 on the orders of King Carlos IV, who also commissioned the frescoes by Goya and his assistant Asensio JuliáAsensio Juliá
Asensio Julià i Alvarracín was a Spanish painter and engraver best known as a student and follower of Francisco Goya. In 2008, The Colossus, a work long associated with Goya, was re-attributed to Juliá by specialists at the Museo del Prado. The attribution is generally but not universally...
.
The structure was declared a national monument in 1905. In 1919 Goya's remains were transferred here from Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, where he had died in 1828. In 1928 an identical chapel was built alongside the original, in order to allow the original to be converted into a museum.
On every June 13, the chapel becomes the site of a lively pilgrimage in which young unwed women come to pray to Saint Anthony and to ask for a partner.
Frescoes
The frescoes by Goya were completed over a six month period in 1798. The frescoes portray miracles by Saint Anthony of PaduaAnthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...
. On the main cupola of the chapel Goya depicted Saint Anthony raising a dead man; instead of portraying the scene as occurring in thirteenth-century Lisbon, Goya relocated the miracle to contemporary Madrid.