1823: Goya finishes his fourteen Black Paintings on the walls of his home, quinta del sordo, in Madrid.

1969: Vito Acconci's Conversion ushers in "body art" with an attempt to conceal his body's masculinity, partially by burning the hair off his body and hiding his genitals.

1970: Jose Gudiol publishes his four volume work, Goya: 1746-1828, Biografia, estudio analitico y catalogo de sus pinturas, in Barcelona.

Today: All the Black Paintings—now existing as oil on canvas—have been restored and hang in Madrid's Prado Museum.

1823: After the French enter Spain to restore Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne, Major Rafael de Riego, who in 1820 had initiated a Liberal constitutional revolution against the monarchy, is publicly humiliated and then executed for treason on November 7. In addition, Ferdinand begins intense repression of Liberals.

1969: Following intensifying protests over the government's treatment of political prisoners and the suspicious...