Part 1:

The tour begins on the ground floor. There is a lot to read here! Goya’s life, his various stages, his artistic style, his illness (loss of hearing) and his ‘dark side’ are described in detail in the first rooms.

In between, there are always gadgets: moving pictures, a sphere illuminated with his works and the ‘dressed’ and ‘naked’ Maja are presented behind a red curtain. These two works (among others) are among his best-known works. You can’t see the originals here – they are in the Prado in Madrid – but you can see a great change from naked to clothed. I didn’t even understand it at first 😉

While the front rooms show the Goya who worked at the royal court, painted many portraits and created rather ‘shallow and lovely’ works of art, the darker Goya is discussed in the back rooms. His deafness made him more depressed, the conquest of Spain by the French with the famous work on 3 May and his ‘Black Paintings’ are brought into focus here.

Part 2:

After so much information, we go down one floor further and the immersive show begins. The huge rectangular room is flooded with works by Goya. You can see important works here, as well as portraits of aristocratic personalities of his time.

But the ‘Black Paintings’ are also on display, which is one reason why you might not want to take small children with you…

Even if we can’t see the original artworks in this exhibition, this immersive exhibition shows us just how large Goya’s repertoire of works was. How his style changed dramatically in old age – due to deafness and depression – and what important works he created.

The exhibition concludes with the VR glasses. These are included in the price, but if you don’t want to use them, you don’t have to.

With the glasses, however, we wander and fly past works by Goya once again.