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Two masters of historical-literary prose have seized on the life and art of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya for their latest works. For Hughes, a life of Goya is the culmination of a writing lifetime as an art critic and historian (The Shock of the New; Barcelona; The Fatal Shore). This is his first extended work since a near-fatal car crash in 1999 (see "Must-Reads for Fall," LJ 9/1/03, p. 41). The subject of Goya allows Hughes to employ his gifts for social portraiture (especially in his vivid picture of the Spanish court) as well as relishing the great works themselves, whose continued power he does not assume but articulates in context. Anytime Goya is off the biographical stage, Hughes has some fascinating bit of social observation to explore (such as the effect of a 1766 royal ban on long capes and wide sombreros, whose enforcers wielded "scissors of sart...Log In or Sign Up to Read More