Francisco de Goya

Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
219 x 153 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta, punta seca y buril
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
16 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Hilan delgado. (at the bottom left-hand corner)

 44. (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 old women with gaunt, caricatured faces are depicted in this engraving. One of them, the one in the foreground, is seated on a chair and is spinning. Somewhat further back, an older woman with a deformed face is also seated and gazes into the void with an absorbed air. Finally, a third female figure appears in profile, holding a broom in one of her hands. In the background, on the right-hand side of the engraving, there are ropes hanging from the ceiling from which children, probably foetuses, are hanging.

The upper part of the body of the first old woman is intensely illuminated and contrasts with the dark atmosphere created by the use of two aquatints. The drypoint is used to accentuate the yarn and burin on the neck and back of the spinner in the foreground, as well as the legs of the chair.

Three manuscripts on The Caprices coincide in explaining this engraving as a depiction of a henchwomen plotting something, although they could also be witches. With this print Goya thus began the series of images devoted to witchcraft and superstition. This theme had already been dealt with by the artist in the series of paintings he produced for the Duke and Duchess of Osuna around 1798. In one of them, entitled Aquelarre, Goya depicted human foetuses hanging, in this case from a rod, which are also present in Caprice no. 43, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. It is possible that they play an important role in the incantations that these women prepare or "spin", as the title of the engraving suggests. It has also been suggested that the three women are the Fates - Nona, Decima and Morta - who weave the thread of life, probably of the children hanging from the ceiling, from birth to death.

If we relate this engraving to the following one, no. 45, Much to suck, especially with the explanations provided in the manuscripts, we can conclude that the three old women are engaged in abortive practices. It is possible that this has to do with the use of children's corpses in spells or witchcraft.

Conservación

The plate is in poor condition, with the aquatint practically missing ( National Chalcography, no. 215).

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • 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
  • Goya
    Nationalmuseum
    Stockholm
    1994
    consultant editors Juan J. Luna and Görel Cavalli-Björkman. From October 7th 1994 to January 8th 1995
  • 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 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
  • London
    2015
  • Expérience Goya
    Lille
    2021
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    p.117, cat. 79
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.181, cat. 539
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.92-93, cat. 55
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.97, cat. 133
  • 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.246-249
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 262
  • WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet y BUCK, Stephanie (eds.)
    LondonThe Courtauld Gallery
    2015
    p. 139
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
  • COTENTIN, Régis
    Expérience Goya (cat. expo)
    LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux
    2021
    p. 118
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 43
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