Prado Museum Attributes Major Goya Painting to Assistant

The Colossus, a major work once thought to be painted by Spanish artist Francisco de Goya which hangs in Madrid's Prado museum is now said to be the work of his assistant.

The Guardian reports: "The final decision to remove Goya's name from the painting followed a lengthy study by the Prado expert Manuela Mena [Marques], which the museum published yesterday. It was expected to reignite the controvesy that first raged when the museum signalled last year that it had begun to doubt that The Colossus could have been painted by the deaf Spanish genius, who died in 1828. Mena said X-rays of the picture had allowed her to spot significant differences between this and other Goya works. Not least of these was the discovery of the top half of the faded initials 'AJ', scribbled in the bottom left-hand corner, which she said may point to it being the work of one of his assistants, Asensio Juliá. Julia is known to have been Goya's main assistant in the later part of his life. One of Goya's most passionate defenders, British art historian Nigel Glendinning, had previously said he thought the marks might not be initials but could, instead, form part of the number 18. The Prado's expert, however, also claimed the quality of The Colossus was far below that of Goya's other masterpieces."

Marques identified 16 points indicating that Julia painted the work. It was completed between 1808 and 1812, during the Spanish War of Independence.

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Giorgio Armani Under Fire for Bedazzling Bullfighter

Giorgio Armani is taking heat from Italian animal rights activists for designing a sparkly costume for Spanish bullfighter Cayetano Rivera for his competition in the "Corrida Goyesca" bullfight, named for Spanish painter Francisco de Goya.

Reuters reports: "Cayetano's satin 'suit of lights', the bullfighter's traditional costume, will be in Armani's hallmark shade of greyish beige embroidered with sequins, crystals and silver thread, Cayetano and Armani said in separate statements."

According to ANSA, "The 100% Animalisti group attached three large posters to the walls of the Emporio Armani megastore in Milan during the night informing customers of Armani's decision to dress Cayetano Rivera Ordonez for the historic Goyesca de Ronda bullfight in southern Spain on September 6. The posters were quickly removed by Armani staff. 'Giorgio Armani's decision is particularly despicable in the light of the fact that he is currently appearing in a publicity campaign against animal abandonment in which he declares his love of animals,' 100% Animalisti said on Thursday."

News: Azis, Stripper Cop, ACT UP Paris, Lance Bass

Seattle Pride parade on again. Rally searching for a resurrection.

Two female plainclothes police officers charge Scottish male stripper with impersonating a police officer: "I said I was not a police officer, I said I am a stripper. They followed me into the bar, watched the show, then asked me to go back to the station. It was all quite friendly. When I went back later they said they were going to charge me. I have spoken to two solicitors and they do not know if it will go to court."

Crain's POLL: "Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to introduce a gay marriage bill in New York state is favored by almost two-thirds of the 1,022 respondents to a recent Crain's online poll. About 63% of voters said they support a gay marriage law. If New York adopted the new legislation, it would become only the second state behind Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriage."

Gay Pride dies in Leicester, UK: "...organisers say they are disappointed the event cannot go ahead because of a lack of cash and volunteers leaving the area."

Bulgarian pop star Azis, who married his partner last year, drags out new video.

Kentucky governor considering emergency "special session" of legislature in order to repeal benefits for gay couples.

Democratic presidential contenders go head-to-head in 90-minute televised debate tonight.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "I hope Al Gore enters the race; I think it would be good for the country."

Condoleezza Rice to be subpoenaed on Iraq.

ACT UP Paris has been ordered to pay the Cathedral of Notre Dame a one Euro fine for staging a mock wedding in the cathedral without its permission: "'The provocative act of June 2005 and the unrest it caused shocked many people of different faiths, whether believers or not, both in France and beyond,' the Paris archdiocese said. Act Up Paris said it was considering appealing against the decision. In the mock wedding, a man dressed as a priest and a lesbian couple - both dressed in white wedding dresses - walked up the cathedral's main aisle and mimicked a wedding ritual while about 20 activists distributed flyers denouncing the Church."

Now it's Lance Bass handing out the kisses in public.

New York Post columnist slams Matos-McGreevey tell-all: "Dina McGreevey does a disservice to women. To wives. To honest political groupies."

55% of shareholders at Micron Technology Inc. vote to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation at the company, but Micron's Board of Directors refuses to accept the resolution: " This is the first time that a majority of shareholders at any U.S. company have voted to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. For most social issue resolutions, receiving shareholder support ranging anywhere from 20 to 30 percent is considered a decent mandate."

Stolen Goya Painting Recovered

Following an art world Amber Alert, Goya's "Children with a Cart" was recovered in central New Jersey after a tip to the FBI from an anonymous lawyer who provided no further details regarding the theft. The painting was stolen last week after being left in an unattended truck. The children and their cart are reportedly in good condition.

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Was Goya Living on the DL? [tr]

Was Goya Living on the DL?

Spanish master Francisco de Goya has always been considered a virile heterosexual — the father of perhaps 20 children, husband to Josefa Bayeu, lover to the Duchess of Alba. But a new book, Goya y Las Mujeres, by Spanish art historian Natacha Seseña suggests that the famous painter (widely considered the father of Modern Art) also had a never-before-discussed homosexual relationship with his friend Martin Zapater (pictured here in a Goya portrait). Letters written at the height of Goya's creative years suggested a back and forth correspondence (Zapater's responses haven't survived) with romantic and sexual undertones.

One letter reads: "My Martin ... I am desperate to go with you because I like you so much, and we suit each other so well, and it's impossible to find anyone comparable, and I imagine what my life would be like if we could be together and hunt and drink chocolate and spend the 23 reales I have in your company ... it would be the greatest happiness in the world."

According to an article published in The Independent, "One letter ends: 'Ah! take, take a thousand embraces,' and adds 'take what I cannot give you,' accompanied by two sketches, of male and female genitalia. The letters exude... 'high-voltage homoeroticism.'"

Written around the time Goya was painting two of his most famous portrait works, Clothed Maja and Naked Maja, some of the letters are signed "Yours and yours again, your Paco Goya" and "He who loves you more than you think." So, while Goya was painting perhaps his most highly erotic work, the Maja, said to feature the first female pubic hair in the history of painting, it's highly likely he had other things on his mind. These days, he might have ended up on Oprah.