The Wedding (La boda)

The scene takes place in a rural setting (a new development in Goya's cartoons, which until this series had always been set in the city or in the countryside immediately surrounding it) and depicts the celebration of a country wedding that has just taken place, complete with numerous figures in attendance. In this large painting Goya introduced compositional elements not featured in any of the previous cartoons. No longer do we see the switching between fore- and background, and the pyramid structures have gone, too. Here, the figures are crowded together in tightly-knit planes, giving a closed-in effect, and framed by the arch formed by the bridge. The light that enters through this arch brings out the different colours of their finery. In the centre we see the newlyweds: she is the centre of attention for the other young girls, whilst he, standing out even more than his new bride thanks to the vivid red of his dress coat and the way his figure is silhouetted dramatically against the sky, divides the nuptial scene in two. On the right stands another important figure, most probably the father of the bride, clad in a green dress coat.

Going by the expressions of the characters it is clear that what we are looking at is the representation of a marriage of convenience. The bride, a beautiful young girl dressed in an elegant frock, appears only partially present, graciously allowing herself - from her new economic and social position - to be contemplated by the other girls of the village, the looks on their faces clearly betraying the farce that is taking place. The newly betrothed will now be able to enjoy certain amorous pursuits that were forbidden whilst she was still single. The groom, a rich but ugly man, with coarse, bloated features, and in whom the desire for his lovely new wife is evident, is wearing ridiculous old-fashioned attire, making him the centre of the parody. The father of the bride gives his new son-in-law an affectionate look, and in his face we can see the happiness of a man who has just made a good business deal.

This was a very popular theme in literary and theatrical satire, too, as well as being the subject of debate amongst intellectuals and legislators. The playwright and close friend of Goya, Leandro Fernández de Moratín, dedicated no less than three of his plays to this subject. Goya would himself return to the topic with much more vehemence in some of the prints from the Caprices series.

It is also possible to add a further interpretation to The Wedding, relating it to the ages of man and to the symbolism of vanitas. The fact that the figures are arranged according to their ages (children on the left and the elderly on the right) and the presence of steps both in the foreground and leading up to the bridge behind them may be making reference to the stairway of life, with marriage as a milestone along it.

We can see therefore that the artist had already begun to include certain moral themes in his works, and his anxiousness to express such thoughts was becoming more evident.