Francisco de Goya

Beautiful advice

Clasificación
Beautiful advice
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
220 x 154 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta bruñida y buril
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
24 Nov 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Beautiful advice (in the lower part)

15. (in the upper right corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

Three state proofs are known from before the letter, as well as the small touches of burin applied to the maja's eyes. Goya also used the burnisher over the aquatint on the tip of the young woman's shoe to make it easier to see how it peeked out from under the fringes of her skirt.

There is a drawing in the Sanlúcar Album that can be considered a preparation for the engraving and another in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Análisis artístico

In the centre of the scene, a seated woman wears a mantilla covering her head and holds a half-open fan in her hand. Next to her, but somewhat further back, is an older woman looking at her attentively. In the background of the engraving we can see some shadows that suggest the presence of other figures that have not yet been fully outlined.

In this engraving, Goya makes significant use of aquatint to create the darker background in the upper part in the centre, as well as the ground. He reserves a lighter area on the young woman's chest and on the clothes of the woman behind her.

In Ayala's manuscript this engraving is explained as follows: "Wretched is he who carries her", while in the one in the Prado Museum it is noted that "the advice is worthy of the one who gives it. The worst thing is that the young lady is going to follow them to the letter. Woe betide anyone who carries her! In the manuscript of the National Library it is commented that "mothers are usually procuresses of their daughters, taking them on successful outings and gatherings".

In this print Goya openly criticises prostitution, to which the young women were often led on the advice of people in their own environment, who gave them Beautiful advice. Prostitution was also a matter of concern in enlightened circles since, following the closure of brothels in the 17th century due to the diseases that arrived from America, prostitutes exercised their profession in the street, without any kind of supervision or control. This is one of the reasons that increased insecurity in many of the streets of the capital.

It is possible that the Aragonese painter was familiar with engravings such as William Hogarth's Arrival in London, in which a young woman who has just arrived in the big city is greeted by an old woman. She looks at her and caresses her face; she is probably a procuress who will introduce her to the world of prostitution.

Conservación

The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography, (no. 186).

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 dans les collections suisses
    Fundación Pierre Gianadda
    Martigny
    1982
    consultant editor Pierre Gassier. From June 12th to August 29th 1982
  • 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
  • Goya
    Nationalmuseum
    Stockholm
    1994
    consultant editors Juan J. Luna and Görel Cavalli-Björkman. From October 7th 1994 to January 8th 1995
  • Francisco de Goya
    Museo d'Arte Moderna
    Lugano
    1996
    exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.
  • 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
  • Goya artista de su tiempo y Goya artista único
    The National Museum of Western Art
    Tokyo
    1999
    from December 1st to July 3th 1999
  • 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
  • Agen
    2019
  • Expérience Goya
    Lille
    2021
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    p.85, cat. 50
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.178, cat. 481
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.130-133, cat. 77-79
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.81, cat. 103
  • 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.120-123
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 246
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
  • MOTTIN, Bruno, EFEDAQUE, Adrien and WILSON-BAREU, Juliet
    AgenSnoeck
    2019
    p. 102
  • COTENTIN, Régis
    Expérience Goya (cat. expo)
    LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux
    2021
    p. 88
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 34
Enlaces externos
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