In most self-portraits it is the face that dominates: <br />Cezanne is a pair of eyes swimming in brushstrokes, <br />Van Gogh stares out of a halo of swirling darkness, <br />Rembrant looks relieved as if he were taking a breather <br />from painting The Blinding of Sampson. <br /> <br />But in this one Goya stands well back from the mirror <br />and is seen posed in the clutter of his studio <br />addressing a canvas tilted back on a tall easel. <br /> <br />He appears to be smiling out at us as if he knew <br />we would be amused by the extraordinary hat on his head <br />which is fitted around the brim with candle holders, <br />a device that allowed him to work into the night. <br /> <br />You can only wonder what it would be like <br />to be wearing such a chandelier on your head <br />as if you were a walking dining room or concert hall. <br /> <br />But once you see this hat there is no need to read <br />any biography of Goya or to memorize his dates. <br /> <br />To understand Goya you only have to imagine him <br />lighting the candles one by one, then placing <br />the hat on his head, ready for a night of work. <br /> <br />Imagine him surprising his wife with his new invention, <br />the laughing like a birthday cake when she saw the glow. <br /> <br />Imagine him flickering through the rooms of his house <br />with all the shadows flying across the walls. <br /> <br />Imagine a lost traveler knocking on his door <br />one dark night in the hill country of Spain. <br />"Come in, " he would say, "I was just painting myself," <br />as he stood in the doorway holding up the wand of a brush, <br />illuminated in the blaze of his famous candle hat.<br /><br />Billy Collins<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/candle-hat/
