- Cronología
- 1797 - 1798
- Ubicación
- The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Dimensiones
- 210 x 147 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Documented work
- Titular
- El Prado National Museum
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 20 Aug 2021 / 08 Jun 2023
- Inventario
- D3922
13 (black pencil, lower left)
Constable archer our sergent (black lapis, below)
Watermark: Two vertical branches (fragment), between them letter "VLLVP" (?)
By inheritance it passed in 1828 to Javier Goya, the painter's son, and in 1854 to Mariano Goya y Goicoechea, the artist's grandson. It was subsequently owned successively by Valentín Carderera (ca. 1861) and Mariano Carderera (ca. 1880). In 1886 it was acquired from Mariano Carderera by the Directorate General of Public Instruction and was assigned to the Prado Museum, where it is now located.
See Woman / Snake
In this drawing we see the figure of a bailiff, dressed in the characteristic uniform of a three-cornered hat, long white wig, black suit, short cloak and sword, looking at himself in the mirror, in which is reflected a giant cat raised in an attitude of attacking the bailiff, who seems ready to scratch the animal with his right hand, which resembles the feline's claw. In Spanish literature it was common to compare bailiffs to cats, as Quevedo once did in his well-known Dreams, and Goya was undoubtedly aware of this. According to Folke Nordström, this scene corresponds to the representation of the choleric temperament.
The drawing, executed mainly in pen, is characterised by its masterly and modern abbreviated technique.
-
Los dibujos de GoyaMuseo Provincial de ZaragozaZaragoza1978exhibition organized by Museo Provincial de Zaragoza, Ministerio de Cultura and Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, exhibition guide written by Miguel Beltrán Lloris and Micaela Pérez Sáenz. October 1978cat. 49
-
MadridMuseo del Prado1954n. 269
-
Goya, Saturno y melancolía. Consideraciones sobre el arte de GoyaStockholmAlquimis & Wiksell1962pp. 94-115
-
Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 187, cat. 652
-
Dibujos de Goya, 2 volsBarcelonaNoguer1975p. 495, cat. 324
-
El mundo de Goya en sus dibujosMadridUrbión1979p. 125
-
Calcografía Nacional y National Museum of Contemporary Arts de Seúl2000pp. 171-179