- Cronología
- Ca. 1797 - 1799
- Dimensiones
- 214 x 150 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Undisputed work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 10 Jan 2011 / 29 May 2024
- Inventario
- 225
Linda maestra! (at the bottom)
68. (in the upper right-hand corner)
Goya (signed in the bottom left-hand corner)
See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.
A proof of pre-letter condition with burnished aquatint and drypoint is preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, with the manuscript title, La Volaron. The first proofs also show the final title with a full stop in place of the exclamation, which gives an ironic sense to the phrase.
A preparatory drawing of this engraving is in the Prado Museum.
An old witch on a broomstick carries with her a younger witch whom she is teaching to fly. The former is holding on to the pole with both hands and seems to be concentrating, while the younger one is clinging to her teacher's neck, watching a group of people watching the scene from below. All this is taking place under the watchful eye of an owl with its wings outstretched, which the Aragonese painter has depicted in the upper right corner of the engraving.
Goya has lavishly used drypoint and etching to depict the bodies of the two women, painstakingly capturing the aged skin of the old woman in contrast to the smoother, firmer skin of the young woman. He has also worked with precision on the owl observing the scene, the tree in the lower right corner and the figures below watching this flying lesson. In a way, it could be said that the artist has returned to the first engravings of the Caprichos series in which he used a fine-grained aquatint and etching to define the figures well.
Both the Ayala manuscript and the one in the Prado Museum coincide in stressing the importance of the broom used by the witches to fly. In this sense, it is possible that, as with many other prints in the series of The Caprices in which Goya tackles the theme of witchcraft, one of the sources of inspiration was the Auto de fe held in the city of Logroño on 6 and 7 November 1610, in which the practices of the witches were recounted.
On the other hand, a careful reading of the explanation of this engraving in the manuscript in the National Library leads us to believe that this image refers allegorically to prostitution. It reads as follows: "The old women take the broom out of the hands of those with good moustaches; they give them lessons in flying around the world, putting a broomstick between their legs for the first time". In this way, Goya would be referring to the procuresses who introduce some young girls into prostitution through the image of the old women who place a broomstick between their legs, teaching them to fly. This explanation would have to do with the choice of the title of the first state proof, They Flew, which has a clearly sexual connotation. Goya replaced it with the less explicit title by which we know this work.
The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography (no. 239).
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De grafiek van GoyaRijksmuseum RijksprentenkabinetAmsterdam1970from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971cat. 45
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Goya y el espíritu de la IlustraciónMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1988from October 6th to December 18th 1988. Exhibited also at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 18th to March 26th 1989; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, May 9th to July 16th 1989, Madrid curator Manuela B. Mena Marqués, scientific directors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Eleanor A. Sayrecat. 68
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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 1993cat. 29
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GoyaNationalmuseumStockholm1994consultant editors Juan J. Luna and Görel Cavalli-Björkman. From October 7th 1994 to January 8th 1995cat. 71
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Francisco de GoyaMuseo d'Arte ModernaLugano1996exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.cat. 68, p.95
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Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996Galerie KornfeldBern1996from November 21st 1996 to January 1997cat. 74
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Goya artista de su tiempo y Goya artista únicoThe National Museum of Western ArtTokyo1999from December 1st to July 3th 1999cat. 125
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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. 86
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Goya e la tradizione italianaFondazione Magnani RoccaMamiano di Traversetolo (Parma)2006consultant editors Fred Licht and Simona Tosini Pizzetti. From September 9th to December 3th 2006cat. 68, p.162
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Goya. Opera graficaPinacoteca del Castello di San GiorgioLegnano2006exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007p.42
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Goya e ItaliaMuseo de ZaragozaZaragoza2008organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragóna, consultant editor Joan Sureda Pons. From June 1st to September 15th 2008cat. 343
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Goya et la modernitéPinacothèque de ParisParís2013from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014cat. 171
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London2015cat. 27
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Zaragoza2021
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Expérience GoyaLille2021cat. 63
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2022
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Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.OxfordBruno Cassirer1964p.145, cat. 103
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p.184, cat. 103
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Goya, 1746-1828. Biografía, estudio analítico y catálogo de sus pinturasBarcelonaEdiciones Polígrafa s.a.1970pp.396, fig. 640
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Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertesMadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando1992pp.46-49, cat. 28-30
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996p.110, cat. 160
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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. 342-345
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ParísPinacoteca de París2013p. 236
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Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado2014p. 302
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LondonThe Courtauld Gallery2015p. 136
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Goya. In the Norton Simon MuseumPasadenaNorton Simon Museum2016pp. 42-75
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Expérience Goya (cat. expo)LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux2021p. 121
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Goya. Traveler and artist of the Grand Tour (exp. cat.)ZaragozaGobierno de Aragón2021pp. 240-241
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Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz2022p. 49