The Snowstorm or Winter by Francisco Goya (Interpretation and Analysis)

The Snowstorm or Winter
Source: Museo del Prado

Happy December! I don’t know about you, but I was a little shocked to realize that we’re entering the last month of the year. Despite the craziness of 2020, it really flew by.

Although it’s not technically winter yet, the beginning of December usually marks the change of seasons in my mind. In my neck of the woods, December means colder temperatures and snow. It even snowed today, so winter is very much on my mind. In honor of the snowy season, I’m going to focus on winter themed paintings from now until the end of the year.

First up is one of Francisco Goya’s early works: The Snowstorm or Winter. Most scholars tend to associate Goya with his darker, more experimental works produced in the latter part of his career. Goya’s early works, produced while he worked as a court painter, tend to be much more conventional. Although, like all of Goya’s art, they contain surprising undertones and messages.

The Snowstorm or Winter is a tapestry cartoon. Tapestry cartoons are essentially models for weavers, who create the tapestry based on the artist’s cartoon. Goya designed dozens of tapestries for the Spanish royal court. According to my research, this one would have been hung in the Prince of Asturias´ dining room at the El Pardo Palace.

The piece depicts a group of peasants walking across a snowy landscape. They are wrapped in cloaks and shivering in the cold. As the Prado Museum describes the cartoon, “They carry nothing and their gazes reveal that they are cold and hungry. Two other, better-dressed figures —probably servants from some manner house—carry an enormous pig that has been gutted.”

The tension between these two groups of figures contains a message about society. Goya uses this painting to explore the dynamic between the haves and have nots. The way different members of society behaved towards each other was an endlessly interesting topic to Goya. The Snowstorm or Winter explores the poverty and hunger of these peasants—heightened by the cold and blustery weather—while contrasting it with the comparative prosperity of the two servants. Set against the backdrop of the harshness of winter, Goya’s painting ask why some have so little when others have so much.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.