Spanish painer Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (30 March 1746 - 16 April 1828) considered to be "the Father of Modern Art," would have celebrated his 266th birthday today.

Goya was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era.

The subversive and imaginative element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet and Picasso.