Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) and his oeuvre have been symbols of Spanish identity since the nineteenth century. This publication celebrates the contradictions and nuances that spring from this identification while exploring unexamined facets of his career. It accompanies the EUROPALIA ESPAÑA exhibition Luz y sombra. Goya and Spanish Realism (Bozar, Brussels – 8 October 2025 to 11 January 2026), offering a fresh look at contemporary Spanish art through the legacy of Goya. The artist’s work is juxtaposed with that of eighteenth- to twenty-first-century Spanish artists who revisited the realist tradition of the Spanish Golden Age, offering a modern take on mysticism and the picturesque at the start of a new visual regime.

Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) and his oeuvre have been symbols of Spanish identity since the nineteenth century. This publication celebrates the contradictions and nuances that spring from this identification while exploring unexamined facets of his career. It accompanies the EUROPALIA ESPAÑA exhibition Luz y sombra. Goya and Spanish Realism (Bozar, Brussels – 8 October 2025 to 11 January 2026), offering a fresh look at contemporary Spanish art through the legacy of Goya. The artist’s work is juxtaposed with that of eighteenth- to twenty-first-century Spanish artists who revisited the realist tradition of the Spanish Golden Age, offering a modern take on mysticism and the picturesque at the start of a new visual regime.