Francisco de Goya

Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
219 x 152 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta bruñida, punta seca y buril
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
12 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Al Conde Palatino. (at the bottom)

33. (in the upper right-hand corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

A state proof survives with the handwritten inscription, The Count Palatine. The engraver probably misread and put "Al" instead of "El", so the final title is Al Conte Palatino.

The preparatory drawing for this engraving is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

 

Análisis artístico

An elegant man dressed in luxurious clothes, wearing a wig and a chain around his neck, is pulling out the tooth of another whose face is distorted by the pain. In the foreground, on the left, another bent over is vomiting, while on the right a person sitting with his back bent over is also a victim of this peculiar dentist's methods. Behind the latter, on a piece of furniture, one can see all sorts of bottles of drugs that he applies to his patients.

The figure who is having a tooth pulled out is the one on whom Goya worked most carefully, using the drypoint for the parallel lines of his shirt and legs. With the use of aquatint he obtained a light tone in the foreground and a medium tone in the background. He has also left a few reserves of varnish for the flasks and bottles on the piece of furniture in the background.

The manuscript in the Prado Museum clearly explains engraving no. 33, about which the following is said: "In all sciences there are charlatans who, without having studied the word, know everything and find a remedy for everything. Do not trust what they say. The true sage is always suspicious of accuracy: he promises little and delivers much; but the Count Palatine does not deliver anything of what he promises".

Goya denounced the practices of all those who claimed to be able to solve certain health problems, but in the end caused nothing but inconvenience. The Aragonese painter calls for scientific knowledge based on a thorough training that would enable us to deal with this type of circumstances with a certain foundation.

The most difficult part of the interpretation of this engraving is the identity that could be hidden behind the name of Count Palatino. Perhaps it refers to the minister Mariano Luis de Urquijo (Bilbao, 1769-Paris, 1817) known for his repressive governmental system and the famous ostentation of his toilette. It has also been thought that the painter was alluding to Count Cagliostro (Palermo, 1743-Urbino, 1795), an occultist and physician who was sentenced to life imprisonment and ended his days in the dungeons of the castle of San Leon in the marchiggiana town of Urbino.

Conservación

The plate is in a poor state of preservation with the aquatint quite weakened and the drypoint details missing (National Chalcography , no. 204).

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • De grafiek van Goya
    Rijksmuseum Rijksprentenkabinet
    Amsterdam
    1970
    from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971
  • Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • Goya. La década de Los Caprichos
    Madrid
    1992
    organized by Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando sponsored by Fundación Central Hispano, Madrid, consultant editor Nigel Glendinnig. From October 26th 1992 to January 10th 1993
  • Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996
    Galerie Kornfeld
    Bern
    1996
    from November 21st 1996 to January 1997
  • Francisco de Goya
    Museo d'Arte Moderna
    Lugano
    1996
    exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.
  • Francisco Goya. Capricci, follie e disastri della guerra
    San Donato Milanese
    2000
    Opere grafiche della Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta
  • Goya e la tradizione italiana
    Fondazione Magnani Rocca
    Mamiano di Traversetolo (Parma)
    2006
    consultant editors Fred Licht and Simona Tosini Pizzetti. From September 9th to December 3th 2006
  • Goya. Opera grafica
    Pinacoteca del Castello di San Giorgio
    Legnano
    2006
    exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    pp.104-105, cat. 68
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.180, cat. 517
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.178-181, cat. 104-106
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.91, cat. 122
  • BLAS BENITO, Javier, MATILLA RODRÍGUEZ, José Manuel y MEDRANO, José Miguel
    El libro de los caprichos: dos siglos de interpretaciones (1799-1999). Catálogo de los dibujos, pruebas de estado, láminas de cobre y estampas de la primera edición
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    1999
    pp.196-199
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 219
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
Palabras clave
Enlaces externos
Volver
Usamos cookies propias y de terceros para mejorar su navegación. Si continua navegando consideramos que acepta el uso de cookies.