GOYA'S HAT

What a remarkable man Goya was! His ability to show the obscene horrors of war, or the grotesque limits of the human face, or to depict the Spanish royal family as if they were a problem family who had just robbed a theatrical costumier's store - and get away with it - places him in the forefront of fascinating characters.

But for me one of the oddest aspects of this man lies in his own self-portrait. He wears a torero's jacket from a suit of lights, because that was the macho thing to do at the time, though he never appeared in the bull-ring. But the hat? No self-respecting bull-fighter would appear in such an odd thing. We are assured that it was a hat he wore for painting details in a poor light, and that it was fitted with candles to light up his work. But look at these candles - about 1 cm away from the crown of the hat. Surely if they had ever been lit the whole hat, and possibly Goya himself, would have gone up in smoke.

Or is this hat really just a project, like Leonardo's flying machines and battering rams, that never got past the design stage? He glowers at us under the brim, as if defying us to disbelieve him. But I for one am not convinced. None of the candles are lit, because there is plenty of light in his studio, which he has painted in for us. So why is he wearing the hat at all? Trendy showing-off, which always appears daft to succeeding generations.