Francisco de Goya

They say yes and hold out their hand to the first to arrive

Clasificación
They say yes and hold out their hand to the first to arrive
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
215 x 150 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching and burnished aquatint
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Titular
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Ficha: realización/revisión
09 Nov 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Yes pronounce and hand out to the first comer (at the bottom) 

P.2 (in the upper right corner)

Análisis artístico

A young woman, whose face is covered with a black mask on the front and a dog or rat mask on the back, marries a man much older than herself. She offers him one hand, while hiding the other behind her body. Behind her, we see two old women with deformed faces and, in the background of the scene, various figures with exaggerated gestures attending the scene. High in the centre of the picture, although slightly offset towards the background, the painter has depicted a man wearing a hat with a caricatured, almost animal-like face. 

The lines of the engraving have a deep bite and in the fine-grained aquatint varnish reserves have been made to obtain a greater contrast between the white of the simian profile of the woman behind the young woman and the girl's chest with the malicious expression of the bridegroom. The use of the burnisher favours the insinuation of the female forms beneath the dress.

Contemporary manuscripts explain this scene; the one in the Prado Museum states that this image represents "the ease with which many women lend themselves to marriage in the hope of living more freely in it", while the one in the National Library notes that "marriages are regularly performed blindly: the brides, trained by their parents, mask themselves and dress up to deceive the first man who arrives. This is a princess with a mask, who is then to be a bitch with her vassals, as indicated by the back of her face imitating a hairstyle: the foolish people applaud these liaisons; and behind comes praying a liar in priestly attire for the happiness of the nation". Finally, Ayala's manuscript states that with this image Goya "reprimands blind marriages, like those of princesses and chambermaids". 

For this Caprice, Goya must have been inspired by some verses written by his learned friend Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (Gijón, 1744-Puerto de Vega, Navia, 1811), the so-called satires A Arnesto, which were first published in El censor (1786). Alcinda, a young woman belonging to high society, marries the first suitor who presents himself to her, possibly with the intention of leaving home. The future husband is encouraged by the economic prosperity that this marriage will bring him. Goya has captured the part of Jovellanos's poem in which he says: "El sí pronuncian y la mano alargan/ Al primero que llega! What a lot of evils/ This damned blindness does not abort! In addition, in the background of the engraving are the characters attending the scene "Al pie del altar, y en el tumulto/ Brindis y vivas de la tornaboda" (At the foot of the altar, and in the tumult/ Toasts and cheers of the wedding). This marriage is celebrated with the imminent threat of infidelity, as Jovellanos points out: "El velo conyugal, y que corriendo/ Con la imprudente frente levantada. Va el adulterio de una casa a otra" (Adultery goes from one house to another). Betrayal is symbolised in the print by the double mask which, on the back, has the face of a dog or rat and alludes to the true character of the young woman who will find complicity in the deception in the woman with the simian face behind her. In Goyaesque iconography, the mask is often an element which, far from concealing, reveals the character's true identity and gives us an idea of her real personality.

The theme of unequal marriages or marriages of convenience is dealt with by Goya in other engravings in The Caprices, such as No. 14, What a Sacrifice, No. 57, Filiation, and No. 75, There's No One to Untie Us.

Conservación

The aquatint of the plate, which is preserved in the National Chalcography (no. 173), is somewhat weakened.

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. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • 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
  • Francisco Goya. Capricci, follie e disastri della guerra
    San Donato Milanese
    2000
    Opere grafiche della Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta
  • Goya. La imagen de la mujer
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2001
    from 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 Serraller
  • 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 en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2014
  • Goya: Order and disorder
    Museum of Fine Arts
    Boston
    2014
  • Madrid
    2017
  • Hamburg
    2019
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    cat. 37, p.72
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.176, cat. 454
  • GLENDINNING, Nigel (Comisario)
    La década de los Caprichos. Retratos 1792-1804
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    cat. 9, p. 16
  • MENA, Manuela B. y WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet (comisarias)
    Goya. El capricho y la invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturas
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1993
    pp.45-47, fig. 21
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    cat. 89, p.74
  • 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.64-67
  • CALVO SERRALLER, Francisco (comisario)
    Goya, la imagen de la mujer
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado y Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado
    2001
    p.90
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 191
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B. y MAURER, Gudrun (comisarias)
    Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2014
    p. 152
  • ILCHMAN, Frederick y STEPANEK, Stephanie L. (comisarios)
    Goya: Order & Disorder
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications
    2014
    p. 140
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
  • CALVO RUATA, José Ignacio, BORRÁS GUALIS, Gonzalo M. and MARTÍNEZ HERRANZ, Amparo
    ZaragozaGobierno de Aragón y Fundación Bancaria Ibercaja
    2017
    p. 172
  • TACK, Ifee and PISOT, Sandra
    HamburgHirmer
    2019
    p. 244
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 29
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