- 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
Beautiful advice (in the lower part)
15. (in the upper right corner)
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.
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.
The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography, (no. 186).
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Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. TapisserienKunsthalle BaselBasle1953from January 23th to April 12th 1953cat. 207
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De grafiek van GoyaRijksmuseum RijksprentenkabinetAmsterdam1970from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971cat. 20
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Goya dans les collections suissesFundación Pierre GianaddaMartigny1982consultant editor Pierre Gassier. From June 12th to August 29th 1982cat. 47
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Goya. La década de Los CaprichosMadrid1992organized 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 1993cat. 78
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GoyaNationalmuseumStockholm1994consultant editors Juan J. Luna and Görel Cavalli-Björkman. From October 7th 1994 to January 8th 1995cat. 56
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Francisco de GoyaMuseo d'Arte ModernaLugano1996exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.cat. 15, p.42
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Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996Galerie KornfeldBern1996from November 21st 1996 to January 1997cat. 21
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Goya artista de su tiempo y Goya artista únicoThe National Museum of Western ArtTokyo1999from December 1st to July 3th 1999cat. 108
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Goya e la tradizione italianaFondazione Magnani RoccaMamiano di Traversetolo (Parma)2006consultant editors Fred Licht and Simona Tosini Pizzetti. From September 9th to December 3th 2006cat. 15, p.149
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Goya. Opera graficaPinacoteca del Castello di San GiorgioLegnano2006exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007p.26
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Goya et la modernitéPinacothèque de ParisParís2013from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014cat. 180
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Agen2019cat. 56
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Expérience GoyaLille2021cat. 36
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Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.OxfordBruno Cassirer1964p.85, cat. 50
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p.178, cat. 481
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Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertesMadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando1992pp.130-133, cat. 77-79
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996p.81, cat. 103
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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 ediciónMadridMuseo Nacional del Prado1999pp.120-123
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ParísPinacoteca de París2013p. 246
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Goya. In the Norton Simon MuseumPasadenaNorton Simon Museum2016pp. 42-75
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AgenSnoeck2019p. 102
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Expérience Goya (cat. expo)LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux2021p. 88
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Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz2022p. 34