By Khilen Mehta

El Coloso, one of the most famous paintings of Francisco de Goya, has been pulled from a new exhibition in the Prado, citing doubts about whether this was actually painted by Goya.

El Coloso has long been hailed as one of Goya’s most dramatic portrayals of the horrors of war. The celebrated work shows a giant naked figure, his eyes shut and fists clenched, rising above a dark, mountainous landscape from which people and animals flee in a terrified stampede. It has been considered by many to demonstrate the  sentiments of war and chaos felt by the Spaniards during the invasion of Napoloeon’s army.

However mysteriously the painting, which has formed part of the Prado’s collection for over 80 years has been withdrawn without reason from the new blockbuster exhibition, “Goya In Times Of War”.

The Prado’s director, Miguel Zugaza, told the national daily ABC on Friday that, “Our knowledge of Goya’s work has advanced greatly in recent years, and doubts over the attribution of El Coloso are widely accepted by the museum’s scientific team.” He also insisted that the evidence would be made public eventually after their team completed their investigation over the authenticity of the painting.

This news has sparked public outrage amongst art fans. Professor Glendinning of London University recently wrote an academic study robustly defending the authenticity of the painting.  He said to, “Remove this painting from view and put it out of sight, in limbo, is grossly unfair to the public, if the museum doesn’t like it, they should tell us why.” The professor will be holding a talk in Madrid tomorrow night, reinstating his conviction that the painting is an authentic and trying to persuade the museum to reinstate the painting.

In El Coloso’s absence, the highlight of the exhibition is likely to be Goya’s restored Le Dos de Mayo which portrays the uprising of the Madrid’s citizens against Napoleon’s troops, which has been disfigured due to gashes inflicted during the Spanish Civil War. The masterpiece was taken from Madrid to Valencia, then Barcelona, to protect it from Franco’s bombardments in 1938, but fell off the lorry en route and was torn in several places.  After months of painstaking work, the missing work from preliminary sketches and copies of the original have been restructured. The restored canvas goes on show tomorrow in a condition as fresh as when Goya painted it in 1814.

By Khilen Mehta

The Copa del Rey may not have the same magic as its English equivalent but for Getafe and Valencia, the national cup competition remains their only attempt to salvage some silverware from two completely contrasting seasons.

For Getafe, triumphing in the nearby Vicente Calderon stadium would mean lifting their first ever piece of silverware, and make up for last seasons heartbreaking defeat to Sevilla in the final. After their cruel exit to Bayern Munich in the UEFA cup just last week, victory in the final would mean an immediate return to the competition for Getafe next season. Not only did Bayern equalise with just a minute to go to send the tie into extra time, but two goals in the last 5 minutes of extra time from Luca Toni ensured Bayern progressed  to the next round on away goals.

A win in the final for Valencia may give manager Ronaldo Koeman a fighting chance of hanging onto his job following a disastrous season. Many expected Valencia to be fighting for a champions league place at the beginning of the season, but under the leadership of Koeman, Valencia find themselves in 15th spot after only winning one of their last nine games.

 With so much at stake for both teams, not least personal pride, this is sure to be a fascinating fixture. Don’t miss out!

by Khilen Mehta

At midday all around the world today, a minutes silence will be held as part of the International Noise Awareness Day. The slogan for the day was “Let’s take care of the acoustic environment” and it is hoped that just for a minute citizens of the world will be able to appreciate the sound of silence that surrounds us and appreciate its beauty.

To celebrate the date the Spanish Acoustic Society, together with the Ministries for Housing and the Environment held the minutes silence at the Tres Olivos College where there are specialist facilities for those with hearing difficulties.

The SEA hopes that this event will help to further their aims and provide real progress. They aim to collaborate with businesses in order to improve knowledge of the recording, reproduction and transmission of sound. They have also maintained relations with similar groups in different countries in order to exchange information, new discoveries and upcoming projects so that they can work together to reach the largest number of people possible and succeed with their objectives.

Spain is known all around the world for being one of the noisest countries in the world. It will be interesting to see just how well behaved the Spaniards were at midday today!