Enrico Pambianchi, Little Monarchs grow up, mixed technique on canvas, 50x40 cm, 2013

In the original artwork, Goya has represented with merciless precision the grotesque faces of the royal family. This work is seen sometimes as a parody, where the light and shade show the luxurious jewels and dress, but also the uglyness of the protagonists, almost to express the corruption of the Spanish society. The painting is opposite to the neoclassicim, because Goya left space to the imperfections. Pambianchi feels and uses this sarcasm. First of all, he tips over the scene (as in a mirror), maybe to underline that also if you change the rulers, nothing changes at all. The power of the family, expressed in the figure of the queen, and the power of the monarchy, expressed in the figure of the king, are cancelled by the presence in the scene of two chimpanzees and two smaller monarchs, ready to take the place of the bigger ones. Pambianchi brings the Goya's sarcasm over the limit, deforming the faces, the limbs and cutting the clothes. The work is even darker and gloomier: Pambianchi has done what Goya couldn't, because of his position of court painter.

Text by arch. Maurizio Bonizzi

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