Correos Espana A Way of Flying by Goya

CORREOS ESPANA on 31 May 1996 issued a series of First Day Cover stamps to  commemorate the 250th anniversary of Spanish artist Francisco de Goya's birth. One of those stamps featured his painting of "A Way of Flying". Postmark cancellation originated from Madrid.

"A Way of Flying" (Spanish: Modo de volar) was a print by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya. Created between 1815 and 1816, it is the 13th of the 22 aquatints making up the series Los disparates. Along with the rest of the series it was first published in 1864 by the Real Academia de Nobles Artes de San Fernando.

 

A number of different interpretations for the work have been considered. Some have seen Goya's use of flight as a metaphor for instability, human irrationality and the inconstancy of fortune. Other commentators have seen it as a metaphor for political and philosophical innovation which was needed in Spain during Goya's lifetime.