The Victorious Hannibal Seeing Italy from the Alps for the First Time

This is the earliest painting we can securely put in Goya's hand. He made it in Italy around 1770, in his mid-twenties, long before the court portraits and the black nightmares he is now remembered for. It was an entry for a competition run by the art academy in Parma, which set the subject down to the details: the general Hannibal, having crossed the Alps, lifts his visor and gazes for the first time at the Italy he means to conquer, while a winged spirit points the way and a river god looks on. Goya did not win. The judges gave him a special mention, praising the warm expressiveness of Hannibal's face and his skilful brushwork, and awarded him eight of the panel's votes.