Goya and Dr Arrieta

The Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746-1828) has left the most moving testimony of his gratitude for the close relationship with his doctor in Self Portrait with Dr Arrieta (1820) (fig 1). In Seville, in the autumn of 1792, Goya developed a sudden serious illness which included dizziness, weakness, delirium, sickness, abdominal pain, deafness, and partial blindness.1 2 The name of his doctor has not been recorded. He convalesced in Cadiz, where in March 1793 his friend Sebastian Martinez reported: “Goya is slightly better but progress is sadly slow. The noises in his head and his deafness have not passed away; however, his sight has improved and he no longer has fits of dizziness and can walk up and down stairs without difficulty.” On his return to Madrid in July 1793 Goya was completely deaf. Various diagnoses of this serious illness have been offered: syphilis, lead poisoning, cerebrovascular disease, acute infection of the central nervous system, and the rare condition of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome—temporary inflammation of the uveal tract associated with permanent deafness.2

In 1819 Goya had a second serious illness. Little information is available either on the nature of the illness or on Dr Arrieta's treatment. The painting is the main …