Francisco de Goya

Witches' proclamation forbidding those under thirty years of age, no matter how much merit they have in flying (6th dream ).

Clasificación
Witches' proclamation forbidding those under thirty years of age, no matter how much merit they have in flying (6th dream ).
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1796 - 1797
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
231 x 153 mm
Técnica y soporte
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
22 Jul 2021 / 22 Jun 2023
Inventario
D4192
Inscripciones

6 (in composite pencil; recto, upper middle)

Sueño. / Pregon de Brujas proibiendo a las / qe no pasan de treinta años, pr. mas merito qe tengan / en bolar  (in composite pencil; recto, lower centre)

16 (in composite pencil; reverse, upper right-hand side)

Watermark: H C Wend / & / Zoonen [Large shield with helmet and letters "H [C] W" inside].

Historia

On the gestation, history and aims of the series known as Dreams, a set of preparatory drawings for The Caprices, see Dream 1: Universal Language.

Line of provenance of the present drawing: Javier Goya; Mariano Goya, 1854; Valentín Carderera, ca. 1861; Mariano Carderera, 1880; Prado Museum, 1886.

Análisis artístico

Framed by a black border, this drawing does not correspond to any sheet from the Caprices, but it is reported to have been made on copper, as the marks in the margins are still visible, which means it was engraved although no proof is known.

Following Moratín's writings on the practices of witchcraft, the painter, in some of the drawings in the Dream series and in the Caprices themselves, used as a thematic and compositional device the figure of the "child-fuelle", the protagonist of various scenes such as this one, Proclamation of WitchesDream 7. Dream of witches consummated or Caprice 69. Blow.  On this occasion, a naked woman with a bulging belly, probably a symbol of her sexual capacity, lifts one of these "bellows-children" into the air and blows her vital breath into his mouth, which he nevertheless expels forcefully from his backside. On the left, an old woman reads a book with glasses on, in front of which a child is doing a handstand. On the right, two children vomit simultaneously into a bowl. A huge figure in a Dominican habit and donkey's ears, a symbol of ignorance, presides over the scene from the background as he violently recites the witches' proclamation that gives the work its title. This is a veiled allusion to the Inquisition and its own proclamations.  

Edith F. Helman suggests that this type of fantastical representation, especially those related to witchcraft, had a satirical purpose related to the political current affairs of Goya's time.

Exposiciones
  • Madrid
    1999
  • Goya: Prophet der Moderne
    Alte Nationalgalerie
    Berlin
    2005
    from July 13th to October 3th 2005. Exhibitied also at the Kunsthistorischemuseum, Vienna, October 18th 2005 to January 8th 2006, consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués
  • Goya: Luces y Sombras. Obras Maestras del Museo del Prado
    The National Museum of Western Art
    Tokyo
    2011
  • Goya luces y sombras
    CaixaForum
    Barcelona
    2012
    consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012
Bibliografía
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN, Francisco Javier
    Los Caprichos de Goya y sus dibujos preparatorios
    BarcelonaInstituto Amatller de Arte Hispánico
    1949
    p. 98
  • HELMAN, Edith
    Trasmundo de Goya
    MadridRevista de Occidente
    1963
    pp. 170-174
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 186, cat. 625
  • GASSIER, Pierre
    Dibujos de Goya, 2 vols
    BarcelonaNoguer
    1975
    p. 82, cat. 45
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    El mundo de Goya en sus dibujos
    MadridUrbión
    1979
    pp. 120-121
  • BLAS BENITO, Javier, MATILLA RODRÍGUEZ, José Manuel y MEDRANO, José Miguel
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    1999
    p. 349
  • SCHUSTER, Peter-Klaus, SEIPEL, Wilfried y MENA, Manuela B. (editores)
    Dumont
    2005
    p.185
  • MATILLA, José Manuel and MENA, Manuela B.
    MadridFundación bancaria “la Caixa” y Museo Nacional del Prado
    2012
    p. 142
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