Manuel Bayeu y Subías, known as ‘Bayeu the Carthusian’, was born in Zaragoza in 1740 and died in 1809, probably in the charterhouse of Nuestra Señora de las Fuentes in the village of Sariñena in Huesca. He was the middle brother of three (Francisco, Manuel and Ramón), all of them painters. Their sister Josefa married Francisco de Goya in 1773. Manuel Bayeu learned his craft from his brother Francisco, who was six years older, mainly by acting as the latter’s assistant on important commissions such as the murals for the Basilica of El Pilar in Zaragoza.
On 3rd December 1760 he became a novice at the Carthusian monastery of Sariñena in the remote district of Los Monegros. He took his vows as a brother of the order on 29th June 1772, and probably lived at the monastery for most of his life, since most of his extensive correspondence with Martín Zapater, published in full in 1996, was written there. His monastic life did not prevent him from staying in touch with the outside world and striking up friendships with important figures of the time. Apart from his work with his brother Francisco, most of his own painting was destined for the Huesca area. It included murals for monasteries in Sijena and other towns in Aragon, including his home monastery of Sariñena. A stand-out example of his work outside that area is a well-known mural that he painted as a commission for the church of the Charterhouse of Valldemossa in Mallorca. There, he struck up a friendship with Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, who praised his intelligence and his skill for frescoes, among other things.
Manuel Bayeu y Subías, known as ‘Bayeu the Carthusian’, was born in Zaragoza in 1740 and died in 1809, probably in the charterhouse of Nuestra Señora de las Fuentes in the village of Sariñena in Huesca. He was the middle brother of three (Francisco, Manuel and Ramón), all of them painters. Their sister Josefa married Francisco de Goya in 1773. Manuel Bayeu learned his craft from his brother Francisco, who was six years older, mainly by acting as the latter’s assistant on important commissions such as the murals for the Basilica of El Pilar in Zaragoza.
On 3rd December 1760 he became a novice at the Carthusian monastery of Sariñena in the remote district of Los Monegros. He took his vows as a brother of the order on 29th June 1772, and probably lived at the monastery for most of his life, since most of his extensive correspondence with Martín Zapater, published in full in 1996, was written there. His monastic life did not prevent him from staying in touch with the outside world and striking up friendships with important figures of the time. Apart from his work with his brother Francisco, most of his own painting was destined for the Huesca area. It included murals for monasteries in Sijena and other towns in Aragon, including his home monastery of Sariñena. A stand-out example of his work outside that area is a well-known mural that he painted as a commission for the church of the Charterhouse of Valldemossa in Mallorca. There, he struck up a friendship with Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, who praised his intelligence and his skill for frescoes, among other things.