{"id":13793,"date":"2017-07-22T15:44:06","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T20:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/?p=13793"},"modified":"2017-07-31T23:06:20","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T04:06:20","slug":"what-goya-knew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/archives\/13793","title":{"rendered":"What Goya Knew"},"content":{"rendered":"
    \n
  1. A Room in the Prado<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We were glad to escape the late morning sun
    \noff the alabaster walls, and to enter the Prado
    \nand to feel cool air in high-ceilinged rooms\u2014
    \nand as our eyes got used to the play of shadow,
    \nthe first colors we saw were of waterlogged wood,
    \nin Sorolla\u2019s large canvas, and the faded blue
    \non a water barrel. And the tenderness
    \nof the two fishermen, kneeling in the hull,
    \narching over them like a chapel as they
    \ncradle their sea-brother, lowering his head,
    \nnow a cold stone, to the floor where the sea
    \nstill pulses. Then rise to trim sails and secure
    \na poor catch to pay for the funeral. How small
    \nwe are, how large our tenderness to each other.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Searching for El Greco, Finding<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Goya\u2019s Black Music<\/p>\n

      Then I searched for the people of El Greco\u2014
      \nslender, distressed\u2014I\u2019d dreamed for a lifetime
      \nof entering that room with the towering canvases
      \nof knights in velvet hose and with earth-weary faces;
      \nwhite horses, eyes bulging to reflect jagged storms
      \nin dark green skies high over Toledo. But before that,
      \nI was shaken by bass notes, the kind you might hear
      \nfilling the night from a passing car window. Devil music,
      \nfrom a room full of huge black paintings. In one,
      \na small dog drowns in quicksand, turning toward heaven
      \nwhere no master extends a comforting hand; in another,
      \na young woman laughs, a blade in her hand,
      \na man\u2019s head on the ground. The kind of music
      \nthat might swarm from a fresh-dug hole.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. What Goya Knew<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        That some men think they are graceful, proud of the wrist-flick
        \nthat lops off a head; that a woman who appears to be doing laundry
        \nis snipping the thread of life; that some nations boast men so fierce
        \nthey can tear off a child\u2019s head with their teeth;<\/p>\n

        that our pilgrimage is led by a fat priest whose horse
        \nwobbles as it treads the long path; that the saints who watch over us
        \nreport back to the devil; that liberation cannot be forced on us
        \nby a bayonet but must be defended by one, at all cost;<\/p>\n

        that all knowledge was first whispered by outlaws
        \nthen written down in forbidden books; that holy men
        \nwho preach gentleness would have us bow before beasts;<\/p>\n

        that those you thought were tougher than nails
        \nwill die this winter; that the night air is only cold
        \non the skin of those who are frightened by death.<\/p>\n

        DAVID SALNER<\/a><\/p>\n
        <\/h6>\n<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        A Room in the Prado We were glad to escape the late morning sun off the alabaster walls, and to enter the Prado and to feel cool air in high-ceilinged rooms\u2014 and as our eyes got used to the play of shadow, the first colors we saw were of waterlogged wood, in Sorolla\u2019s large canvas, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1425,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[53],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-3At","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13793"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13980,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13793\/revisions\/13980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}