- Cronología
- Ca. 1797 - 1798
- Dimensiones
- 215 x 150 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Etching and burnished aquatint
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Undisputed work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 19 Jan 2011 / 21 Jun 2023
- Inventario
- 225
See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.
This proof was bound at the end of an early copy of the first edition of The Caprices.
It is not known how this work came to be in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris.
In the centre of the scene, a haggard-faced old woman in a pompous dress holds out her hand to a handsome young man who bows to her. The young man's face, which shows a gesture of displeasure, turns towards the viewer. In the background, on the left, there is a man with his arms crossed over his chest and his head turned upwards, with a strange gesture on his face, perhaps mocking the woman whose back is turned to him.
This print is executed with a single-tone aquatint that contrasts with the illuminated areas. Thanks to the burnisher, half-tones are achieved in the old woman's dress and those of her companions. Goya used etching to define the figures, create their clothing and create a shaded area on the right side of the print.
This unique proof, which is not included in the published series of Los Caprichos, has been related to Capricho no. 55, Until Death, as both depict an elegantly dressed old woman. The analogies between the figure in the present engraving and Queen Maria Luisa of Parma are more than obvious, and it is possible that the man bowing to her could be Manuel Godoy and the one in the background could be Charles IV. It is likely that the painter thought of including this engraving in the series but later decided to remove it because of the explicitness of the criticism and the ease with which the characters being satirized could be identified. He would thus have replaced it with No. 55, Until Death.
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Goya. La década de Los CaprichosMadrid1992organized 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 1993p.167, cat. 98
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Los Caprichos de Goyacol. Serie punto y líneaBarcelonaGustavo Gili1977p.202
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Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertesMadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando1992pp.290-291, cat. 177
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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 ediciónMadridMuseo Nacional del Prado1999pp.402-403
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AgenSnoeck2019p. 92
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Expérience Goya (cat. expo)LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux2021p. 128