How Did Francisco Goya Die?
Francisco Goya died of a stroke on 16 April 1828, aged 82, in self imposed exile in Bordeaux, France. Decades later, when his body was dug up to be returned to Spain, his skull was missing, and no one has ever found it.
The death of Spain's greatest painter is strange from start to finish.
Here is how he died far from home, and how he ended up buried without his head.
How Goya died
Died: 16 April 1828, in Bordeaux, France.
Age: 82.
Cause: a stroke, after months of failing health.
Buried: first in Bordeaux, later moved to Madrid.
The mystery: his skull was gone when his body was exhumed.
Why he died in France, not Spain
In 1824 Goya left Spain for good. The restored king, Ferdinand VII, was hunting down liberals, and Goya had liberal friends and a dangerous past.
He settled in Bordeaux among other Spanish exiles. Even there, deaf and in his late seventies, he kept working, painting small pictures on ivory and the tender Milkmaid of Bordeaux.
His final days
Goya never stopped. A late drawing of a bent old man on two sticks carries the caption, I am still learning.
Early in 1828 a stroke left him paralyzed down one side and unable to speak. He lingered a few days and died on 16 April, with family and friends nearby.
The missing skull
Here is where it gets strange. When Spain finally arranged to bring his body home, the grave was opened, and the skeleton had no head.
The skull had vanished, probably soon after burial. The favorite theory is that a doctor or scientist took it to study the brain of a genius, a popular obsession at the time. It has never been recovered. There is even an old painting said to show Goya's skull, but nothing was ever proven. He had spent his last years in the same dark frame of mind that produced the Black Paintings.
Where he lies now
Spain decided to rebury him anyway, head or no head.
Today Goya rests in the small Madrid church of San Antonio de la Florida, directly beneath a dome of angels he himself had frescoed in 1798, back when he could still hear.
FAQ about how Goya died
How did Goya die? A stroke, in 1828, at the age of 82.
Where did he die? Bordeaux, France, in exile.
Why was he in France? He fled the repression of King Ferdinand VII.
Is it true his skull is missing? Yes. It was gone when his body was exhumed.
Where is he buried? San Antonio de la Florida, Madrid, under a dome he painted.
Buried under his own angels, without a head
Goya lies in Madrid beneath a ceiling of angels he painted in 1798, when he could still hear.
He simply does not have a head. Nobody has ever found it. The full life that led here is in Francisco Goya: The Complete Story, and the darkness of his last years is here.