1777 Goya completed the first group of his memorable tapestry
cartoons, among which is The parasol brilliantly colored,
ravishingly painted and yet, somehow, more than an innocent
decoration. Simplicity itself, the picture shows a smiling,
bright-eyed young girl seated on the ground with her skirt and
cloak billowing about her. She holds a folded fan in one hand
and supports a adorable black and white pup on her lap. With
her is a sturdy young majo, attentive and obviosly ravished
by her beauty, who shields her face from the bright sun with
a brilliant green parasol. Suggestions of a stone wall to one
side, a wind-whipped tree and leafy glade to the other, do nothing
to distract from the two figures. Goya's people are amusing
the coquettish smile and directness of the girl as she
gazes, it seems, into the very eyes of the viewer bring forth
a smile from any man. Yet they are real in thaty the subjects
of Goya's predecessors and competitors in this vein are not.
There is, as a critic says, 'a positive pinch of earthy actuality'
and an avoidance of sentimentality that is quite
unique and that is to grow in importance as Goya works for the
Royal Tapestry Manufactory."
From the book The World
of Goya, by Richard Schickel, Time-Life Books, 1969, page