When, at 13, Goya began to learn the craft of painting, no one could have foreseen that he would one day become one of the greatest painters of Spanish - and European - art. Even when he traveled to Italy in his mid-twenties and later earned a modest living as a church painter in Saragossa, there was no hint of the extraordinary career that awaited him. Little is known about Goya's youth or the roots of his work as an artist. If his later comments are to be believed, in his youth he was a tough good-for-nothing who was not afraid to test his courage in the bullring. He pursued his career as a painter proudly and self-confidently, even though the Royal Academy in Madrid refused to acknowledge his work. He made a name for himself in the provinces, made contacts among influential people, and disciplined himself to complete his commissions - some of them large ones - to the satisfaction of his patrons. He also painted portraits and made a number of
etchings.