- Cronología
- 1791 - 1792
- Ubicación
- The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Dimensiones
- 267 x 160 cm
- Técnica y soporte
- Oil on canvas
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Documented work
- Titular
- El Prado National Museum
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 22 Dec 2009 / 14 Jun 2023
- Inventario
- (P00802)
See The Wedding.
The Straw Manikin used one of the identically sized stretchers included on the invoice of the carpenter Alejandro Cittadini. The other one was for its companion piece,Young Women with Pitchers.
The painting shows four women, arranged in a circle, tossing a life-size straw manikin up and down in a blanket. Tomlinson sees this figure as far more than just a doll, however, stating that his painted face and marked femininity identifies him as a petimetre.
Cruzada Villaamil believed that the tapestry of this work was to adorn the bedroom of the Infantas, but Sambricio correctly relocated it to the palace of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, the place where the tapestry was in fact found.
The Straw Manikin has been interpreted in several different ways. On the one hand it fits in with the meaning of the works with which it would have shared a wall: The Wedding and Young Women with Pitchers, symbolizing man's fall into the clutches of woman. A later version of this same subject can be found in the print Feminine Folly.
Victor Chan, however, finds in this work a clear parallelism with the political instability of the period. He believes that the women forming the circle represent the seasons of the year, turning the wheel of fortune. Around the time the painting was made, Cabarrús, Jovellanos, Campomanes, Floridablanca and Aranda were all forced to abandon their posts, and this may have led Goya to reflect upon the volatile nature of time and fortune. Tomlinson lends her support to this hypothesis, pointing out that this series contained several works depicting physical instability, such as The Stilts, Boys Climbing a Tree and Chicken Fight.
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El arte de GoyaMuseo de Arte Occidental de TokioTokyo1971from 16th 1971 to January 23th 1972. Exhibited also at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, January 29th to March 15th 1972.cat. 15
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GoyaPalacio de PedralbesBarcelona1977from April 12th to June 30th 1977cat. 13
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De Greco á Picasso. Cinq siècles d’art espagnolMusée du Petit PalaisParís1987from October 10th 1987 to January 3th 1988cat. 95
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Goya. 250 AniversarioMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1996consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996cat. 54
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Goya. La imagen de la mujerMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid2001from October 30th 2001 to February 10th 2002. Exhibitied also at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, March 10th to June 2nd 2002, consultant editor Francisco Calvo Serrallercat. 12
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Goya: Prophet der ModerneAlte NationalgalerieBerlin2005from July 13th to October 3th 2005. Exhibitied also at the Kunsthistorischemuseum, Vienna, October 18th 2005 to January 8th 2006, consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marquéscat. 26
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Goya luces y sombrasCaixaForumBarcelona2012consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012cat. 11
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Goya: Order and disorderMuseum of Fine ArtsBoston2014cat. 105
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Zaragoza2017cat. 68
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GoyaBasle2021p. 82
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L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 volsParís1928-1950vol. I, p. 101, cat. 42
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Tapices de GoyaMadridPatrimonio Nacional1946pp. 170-171, 273, cat. 58 y lám. 183
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 99, cat. 301 y p. 70 (il.)
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BarcelonaPolígrafa1970vol. I, p. 383, cat. 302
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L’opera pittorica completa di GoyaMilanRizzoli1974p. 105, cat. 256
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Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja1980-1982vol. II, p. 90 y p. 60 (il.)
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Imagen de GoyaMadridLumen1983p. 76
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Goya’s tapestry cartoon of the straw manikin: a life of games and a game of lifeArts Magazine1985pp. 50-58
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Francisco de Goya, cartones y tapicescol. col. "Espasa Arte"Espasa Calpe1987pp. 166, 195, cat. 64C y p. 97 (il.)
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Francisco de Goya. Los cartones para tapices y los comienzos de su carrera en la corte de Madridcol. col. "Ensayos de Arte Cátedra"MadridCátedra1987pp. 268-270 y p. 267 (il.)
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Goya. 250 AniversarioMadridMuseo del Prado1996p. 335, cat. 54 y p. 134 (il.)