Francisco de Goya

Who would have believed it!

Clasificación
Who would have believed it!
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
203 x 151 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta bruñida y buril
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
29 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Quien lo creyera! (at the bottom)

 62. (in the upper right-hand corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

A preparatory drawing of this engraving has survived.

Análisis artístico

Two naked witches engage in a fierce fight as they fall. Below them, a feline-looking monster awaits them, raising its sharp claws wide open. The scene takes place at night, in a mountainous space.

In the Ayala manuscript the following is written about this engraving: "Two old men given to lechery are devoured by monsters". In the manuscript of the Prado Museum, the print is commented on as follows: "See here a cruel quarrel over which is the witchier of the two: who would think that the petite and the frizzy would repel each other like this: friendship is the daughter of virtue; the wicked may be accomplices, but not friends".

According to Edith Helman, the source of inspiration for this engraving could be the first canto of Paradise Lost (1667) by John Milton (London, 1608-1674), translated by José Cadalso (Cádiz, 1741-Gibraltar, 1728) and by Gaspar Melchor Jovellanos (Gijón, 1744-Navia, 1811). It tells how the rebellious spirits, plunged from the region of heaven, fall into the immense abyss.

It is likely that Goya may have become acquainted with this type of text during his stay in the Cadiz house of Sebastián Martínez y Pérez (1747-1800), a collector of engravings and paintings and the owner of an important library. At that time Cadiz had flourishing commercial relations with England, which would also have implied cultural exchanges. It is also possible that the Aragonese painter consulted this work in the library of the Duke and Duchess of Osuna, for whom he executed a series of paintings depicting scenes of witchcraft.

Conservación

The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography (no.  233).

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • Goya. La década de Los Caprichos
    Madrid
    1992
    organized 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 1993
  • Francisco de Goya
    Museo d'Arte Moderna
    Lugano
    1996
    exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.
  • Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996
    Galerie Kornfeld
    Bern
    1996
    from November 21st 1996 to January 1997
  • Goya e la tradizione italiana
    Fondazione Magnani Rocca
    Mamiano di Traversetolo (Parma)
    2006
    consultant editors Fred Licht and Simona Tosini Pizzetti. From September 9th to December 3th 2006
  • Goya. Opera grafica
    Pinacoteca del Castello di San Giorgio
    Legnano
    2006
    exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007
  • Goya luces y sombras
    CaixaForum
    Barcelona
    2012
    consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
  • London
    2015
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    pp.139, cat. 97
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.183, cat. 575
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    p.106, cat. 152
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.106, cat. 152
  • BLAS BENITO, Javier, MATILLA RODRÍGUEZ, José Manuel y MEDRANO, José Miguel
    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 edición
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    1999
    pp.318-321
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 197
  • WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet y BUCK, Stephanie (eds.)
    LondonThe Courtauld Gallery
    2015
    p. 137
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 47
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