Francisco de Goya

Devoted profession

Clasificación
Devoted profession
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
210 x 166 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta y punta seca
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
11 Jan 2011 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Devota profesion. (at the bottom)

 70. (in the upper right-hand corner)

 Goya (signed in the bottom left-hand corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

A state proof with aquatint that belonged to the old Sánchez Gerona collection has been preserved, as well as three preparatory drawings for this engraving (1),  (2) and (3).

Análisis artístico

A young, long-eared apprentice witch is mounted on the shoulders of a satyr sitting on his goat-like hindquarters on the ground. In front of her, standing tall, are two large-eared figures wearing mitered, sharply folded cloaks, who place a book before the apprentice and hold it in tongs. Below emerge two heads with closed eyes and half-open mouths. Both the young witch and the four figures taking part in this ceremony have a stern, concentrated attitude that speaks of the solemnity of this moment.

In the manuscript in the Prado Museum, the following is written about this engraving: "You swear to obey and respect your teachers and superiors? Do you sweep, spin cloth, play rattles, howl, howl, shout, fly, stew, smear, suck, cook, fry, every time you are commanded? I swear. Well, daughter, you are already a witch. Be in ora buena". This interpretation suggests that Goya has depicted the oath that a neophyte swears before her superiors, confirming her entry into the world of witchcraft.

The artist has used etching over almost the entire surface of the print to accurately depict the protagonists, as well as the somewhat nebulous atmosphere in which the scene is taking place, which he constructs with continuous, brief horizontal strokes.

However, as in other engravings in the series, Goya could also be suggesting another meaning for this image. It is possible to reach this conclusion by reading the interpretations provided by the manuscript in the Biblioteca Nacional and the Ayala manuscript, which allude to the speed with which some clerics were promoted in the Church. Thus the characters holding the book are dressed as prelates, one of whom wears a bat in the plume above his mitre. The tongs used to hold the book could be instruments of torture used by the Inquisition. In this engraving, Goya inverts a religious ceremony with demonic connotations, as the officiants are supported by a bird of prey with a serpent's tail, which is identified with heresy. The Aragonese artist makes a subtle, veiled comparison between the ceremonies held for those who wished to join the world of witchcraft and those held within the Church.

Conservación

The plate is in rather poor condition, with the aquatint very worn (National Chalcography, no.241).

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1988
    from October 6th to December 18th 1988. Exhibited also at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 18th to March 26th 1989; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, May 9th to July 16th 1989, Madrid curator Manuela B. Mena Marqués, scientific directors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Eleanor A. Sayre
  • 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 de Goya
    Museo d'Arte Moderna
    Lugano
    1996
    exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
  • 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
  • Goya: Order and disorder
    Museum of Fine Arts
    Boston
    2014
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    pp.147-148, cat. 105
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.184, cat. 591
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.100-103, cat. 59-61
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.111, cat. 162
  • 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.352-355
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 238
  • ILCHMAN, Frederick y STEPANEK, Stephanie L. (comisarios)
    Goya: Order & Disorder
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications
    2014
    p. 255
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
Enlaces externos
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