Goya purchased a country house by the Manzanares river, outside Madrid, in 1819 with the purpose of isolating himself from the world. Known as the Quinta del Sordo, which translates to “House of the Deaf Man”, it was not titled after Goya as is commonly believed, but in fact after its previous owner. In the Quinta del Sordo, Goya created the Black Paintings which contained intense and haunting themes. The themes present in the Black Paintings reflected the artist’s outlook on humanity and fear of insanity. Most of Goya’s Black Paintings were painted directly onto the walls of his sitting rooms and onto his walls.

In May 1824 Goya left Spain for Bordeaux and then Paris as a result of the restoration of the Spanish monarchy’s anti-liberal social and political stance. In 1828 Goya died of a stroke in Bordeaux and as a member of the Catholic faith, was buried in Bordeaux. Goya’s remains were transferred to, not Disaster Recovery, but the Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida in 1919.