The golden light of the domes that Goya painted in Zaragoza, the darkness of the Quinta del Sordo, his obsessions, his fears and a work that still speaks to the present. That will be the journey proposed by the great immersive exhibition that La Lonja will host in 2028, with the help of the Museo Nacional del Prado, on the occasion of the Bicentenary of the Death of Francisco de Goya.
The exhibition, already advanced during the Bicentennial debut held in Zaragoza with the presence of the Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun, is emerging as one of the great cultural milestones of the anniversary. The proposal uses360-degree videomapping, immersive soundscapes and virtual reality resourcesto bring the life, work and creative universe of the Aragonese painter closer to the public from a contemporary language.
It will not only be an exhibition designed to have a visual impact. The tour will seek to ensure that the visitor first learns to look at and understand Goya, his resources, his context and his creative stages, to end up facing a work that continues to challenge today’s society. Technology will be at the service of a narrative that wants to generate knowledge, reflection and emotion.
The spatial dramaturgy will take the audience from the artist’s Zaragoza stage to the darkest territories of his production. This transition will allow us to trace the vital and artistic evolution of Goya and will culminate with a message on the validity of his legacy and the role of the Prado Museum in its conservation, study and dissemination.
«TWO HUNDRED YEARS WITH GOYA» AS A PRELUDE TO 2027
Before this great immersive event, La Lonja will host the exhibition «Two Hundred Years with Goya» from April 16 to August 8, 2027, conceived as a chronological and transversal journey through the influence of the artist from his death to the present day. The exhibition will bring together nearly a hundred pieces from more than 60 national and international institutions and collections. The Prado Museum will be the main lender, with 13 works, including six paintings by Goya. In addition, three works by the artist never before exhibited in Zaragoza can be seen: «Un garrochista», «Dead birds» and «The drunkard».
One of the great attractions will be the return of «The Colossus» to Zaragoza more than three decades after its last exhibition in the city, in 1996. The Flight of the Witches and the Portrait of Pedro Mocarte, by The Hispanic Society of America, will also be part of the tour.
The exhibition, curated by Pedro J. Martínez Plaza, curator of 19th-century painting at the Museo Nacional del Prado, will show Goya’s imprint on painting, engraving, sculpture, photography, literature, music, cinema, fashion and popular culture. Among the names linked to Goya’s legacy will be Picasso, Manet, Fortuny, Solana, Zuloaga, Saura and Rauschenberg, along with creators such as Rosario Weiss, Blanca de los Ríos and Emilia Pardo Bazán.
With these two major events, Zaragoza wants to be at the centre of the international commemoration of Goya’s Bicentenary and strengthen its link with one of the most influential artists in the history of art. The municipal strategy also includes cultural activities, tourist proposals and the promotion of new spaces related to the painter, such as the future Goya Center in the old courts of the Plaza del Pilar.
