Proposed Goya heads for Prado study, with attribution still open
Bought as a Bayeu in Madrid, the religious painting has attracted institutional interest and expert reservations. Its auction history remains incomplete.
A small religious painting bought at a Madrid auction under Francisco Bayeu’s name is to be studied for a 2028 Prado exhibition as a possible Goya. The planned inclusion, reported by The Art Newspaper, gives the attribution an important institutional setting. It does not settle it.
The proposed Goya is The miracle of the appearance of the Eucharist to Saint Paschal Baylón. Telecinco’s report identifies an oil on canvas measuring 51.5 by 38.5 cm, purchased in 2018 by the Barcelona antiquarian Artur Ramon. Bayeu was Goya’s brother-in-law as well as his mentor. The scene shows the saint with arms extended beneath a radiant monstrance, with a skull at his feet.
According to Telecinco, an unnamed Madrid antiquarian joined Ramon in bidding for the picture. That is a useful part of its modern history, but the report does not establish their present ownership shares or identify the auction house, lot or price. Those details remain unresolved.
Ramon told The Art Newspaper that prolonged looking during lockdown prompted doubts about the Bayeu attribution. An application to take the picture to TEFAF Maastricht was refused. Spain’s culture ministry told the paper that the evidence pointed towards Goya around 1780, subject to further study.
Earlier coverage was more emphatic: Telecinco described academic unanimity and the support of Prado specialists. The newer account is more qualified. Prado curator José Manuel Matilla told The Art Newspaper that preparations for the exhibition could confirm or correct the attribution. Wallace Collection director Xavier Bray, a specialist in Goya’s religious paintings, remained “on the fence”.
Ramon’s gallery, which is marking its centenary, has a commercial interest in the picture. A display there is planned for October before the proposed Prado appearance. Neither an export refusal nor an exhibition plan substitutes for a published attribution argument. The promised study, and the differences between specialists’ assessments, are now the story to follow.
Sources & further reading
Telecinco: Un anticuario de Barcelona descubre un Goya escondido bajo el nombre de su cuñado (Iria Sebastià)
