Fray Juan Fernández de Rojas

Juan Fernández de Rojas (Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, 1750-Madrid, 1819) was an intellectual and an expert in philosophy, literature, poetry and theology. He trained at the Poetic School of Salamanca, teaching at the Augustinian school of San Felipe el Real - in the Madrid convent of which he died - and was professor of theology and philosophy in Toledo. An advocate of modern theology, he came under attack from the more conservative quarter of the Church. He became famous for his Christian speeches and his writings: literary criticism and satirical plays. He was a close friend of Goya, advising the painter on art and aesthetics, and the satire practised by both men in their respective fields of literature and painting gave them a shared way of seeing the world.

In this portrait, Goya has focused all of his attention on the facial features of the cleric, paying little attention to his clothing or the background. As such, the black cassock appears as a shapeless mass, dark and flat, like a triangular compositional element on top of which the magnificently executed head rests. The background is of an indeterminate greenish grey colour, and is also flat. The face of Friar Juan Fernández reflects wisdom through his intense gaze. It is executed using short brushstrokes that have been carefully built up to form the features, resulting in what is one of Goya's most attractive portraits from the period.