Francisco de Goya

Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
217 x 152 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching and burnished aquatint
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
20 Aug 2013 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Duendecitos. (at the bottom)

 49. (in the upper right-hand corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

A preparatory drawing of this engraving is in the Prado Museum.

Análisis artístico

Three grotesque goblins in friar's habits are holding glasses of wine. The one standing on the right of the engraving seems to belong to a barefoot order and, compared to the others, has a more taciturn and reserved attitude. The one in the centre gesticulates with a huge monstrous hand that does not correspond to his small size. He laughs with ease and reveals his battered, sharp-toothed dentition. The one on the left side of the print is seated on the floor and seems to be concentrating hard, looking at the glass he holds in one of his hands. The scene takes place in a dark, vaulted space, perhaps a cellar. At the top of the back of the room is a barred window.

With a fine aquatint Goya manages to create half-tones that contrast with the light streaming through the bars. The room is in semi-darkness and the painter did not wish to give priority to any of the three figures, who are treated equally.

The Manuscript of the Biblioteca Nacional describes this picture very well: "The real goblins of this world are the priests and friars, who eat and drink at our expense. The Church or the clergy has a sharp tooth and a monstrously long right hand to grasp; the barefoot friar, as the most gourmand, covers the glass of wine; but the footwear does not mess around; he pours soups in wine and trills happily".

In the second half of the 18th century, the word " goblin" was used to refer to the friars, so the artist could be interpreted as resuming his criticism of the clergy who, in this case, are drinking the wine they receive from the people's tithes. The painter questions the usefulness of the clergy, their role in a society that is obliged to support them in any case.

The deformed faces of the figures in the engraving are clearly reminiscent of the characters in The Family of the Rustic Bertoldo, an anonymous work from the late 18th or early 19th century. In these cases the heads are disproportionately large for the bodies, a deformity that is also seen in Little Goblins.

Conservación

The plate is in rather poor condition, with the aquatint very worn ( National Chalcography, no. 220).

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • 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.
  • 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 e Italia
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    2008
    organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragóna, consultant editor Joan Sureda Pons. From June 1st to September 15th 2008
  • 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
    p.122, cat. 84
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.182, cat. 549
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.298-299, cat. 181
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.99, cat. 138
  • 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.266-269
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 224
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
Enlaces externos
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