- Cronología
- Ca. 1797 - 1799
- Dimensiones
- 218 x 151 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Aguafuerte, aguatinta bruñida, punta seca y buril
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Undisputed work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 21 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
- Inventario
- 225
Lo que puede un Sastre! (at the bottom)
52. (in the upper right-hand corner)
See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.
In the first printings, the exclamation mark in the title does not appear, which was later corrected.
The proof bears two handwritten numbers, 2 and 52, which could correspond to the hypothetical arrangement that Goya considered for this print.
A preparatory drawing of this engraving is in the Prado Museum.
A crowd kneels before a rickety tree covered with a monk's habit that looks like a gigantic puppet raising its arms. In the foreground a young girl is shown in adoration, the child behind her seems to be afraid, while others are praying and, in some cases, we see faces expressing withdrawal or indifference. In the sky, in the background, a group of witches can be seen flying.
This print can be read in two ways, in which the unifying element is appearance. On the one hand, it is a criticism of superstition, as can be seen in the manuscripts of Ayala and the National Library. However, the Prado Museum manuscript provides a second guideline for the interpretation of the engraving: "How often a ridiculous bug is suddenly transformed into a phantom that is nothing and appears to be a lot! So much can be the skill of a tailor and the foolishness of those who judge things by what they seem". In short, Goya censures those who rely on appearances without going into depth.
The Aragonese painter tackled this theme once again in engravings 66, Strange Devotion! and 67 This is No Less from the series The Disasters of War, in which he criticised the superciliousness and those who use sacred images to exalt their own image, to obtain a dimension and social projection which they do not really have.
A close analysis of the preparatory drawing for the engraving reveals modifications to the engraving designed to make the message of the print less obvious. Thus the artist concealed the clear reference to the monk by adding a topknot to the hood of the habit, which makes it look like a tied sack. He also sketched the witches flying in the sky that he developed in the print. In this way, the anti-clerical criticism is camouflaged under a scene of witchcraft.
One of the possible visual sources Goya could have drawn on for this image is the painting by Pierre Subleyras (Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, 1699-Rome, 1749) Charon Passing the Shadows (ca. 1735, Musée du Louvre, Paris), in which the Frenchman creates the spectral figures by means of an excellent panneggio work.
The plate is in rather poor condition, with the aquatint very worn (National Chalcography, no. 223).
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Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. TapisserienKunsthalle BaselBasle1953from January 23th to April 12th 1953cat. 238
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De grafiek van GoyaRijksmuseum RijksprentenkabinetAmsterdam1970from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971cat. 38
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Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)Hamburger KunsthalleHamburg1980cat. 45
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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. 53
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Francisco de GoyaMuseo d'Arte ModernaLugano1996exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.cat. 52, p.79
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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. 58
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Goya artista de su tiempo y Goya artista únicoThe National Museum of Western ArtTokyo1999from December 1st to July 3th 1999cat. 129
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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. 52, p.158
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Goya. Opera graficaPinacoteca del Castello di San GiorgioLegnano2006exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007p.37
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Goya et la modernitéPinacothèque de ParisParís2013from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014cat. 160
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Goya: Order and disorderMuseum of Fine ArtsBoston2014cat. 168
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Madrid2017
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2022
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Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.OxfordBruno Cassirer1964p.125, cat. 87
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p.182, cat. 555
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Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertesMadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando1992pp.87-90, cat. 52-54
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Goya. El capricho y la invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturasMadridMuseo del Prado1993p.46, fig. 19
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996p.101, cat. 141
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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.278-281
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ParísPinacoteca de París2013p. 225
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Goya: Order & DisorderBostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications2014p. 255
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Goya. In the Norton Simon MuseumPasadenaNorton Simon Museum2016pp. 42-75
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ZaragozaGobierno de Aragón y Fundación Bancaria Ibercaja2017p. 188
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Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz2022p. 44