The Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida ( es, Real Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida) is a Neoclassical chapel in central

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

. The chapel is best known for its ceiling and dome frescoes by

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

. It is also his final burial place.

History

The chapel was built in the general location of two prior chapels built in the 1730s, which were on the land of a farm called ''La Florida''. The present structure was built by Felipe Fontana from 1792 to 1798 on the orders of King Carlos IV, who also commissioned the frescoes by Goya and his assistant Asensio Juliá. The structure was declared a national monument in 1905. In 1919 Goya's remains were transferred here from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, where he had died in 1828. Famously, the skull was missing, a detail the Spanish consul had immediately advised to his superiors in Madrid, who wired back, "Send Goya, with or without head." In 1928 an identical chapel was built alongside the original, in order to allow the original to be converted into a museum, and the headless remains were moved again. On every June 13, the chapel becomes the site of a lively pilgrimage in which young unwed women come to pray to Saint Anthony and to ask for a partner.

Frescoes

The frescoes by Goya were completed over a six-month period in 1798. The frescoes portray miracles by

Saint Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bo ...

. On the main cupola of the chapel Goya depicted Saint Anthony raising a man from the dead and exculpating his father, who had been falsely accused of his murder. Instead of portraying the scene as occurring in thirteenth-century Lisbon, Goya relocated the miracle to contemporary Madrid.

References

External links

{{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Madrid Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Roman Catholic churches completed in 1798 Roman Catholic chapels in Madrid 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Neoclassical architecture in Madrid Buildings and structures in Casa de Campo neighborhood, Madrid Neoclassical church buildings in Spain

History

Frescoes

See also

References

External links