- Cronología
- Ca. 1796 - 1797
- Ubicación
- The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Dimensiones
- 238 x 167 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Documented work
- Titular
- El Prado National Museum
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 14 Sep 2022 / 23 Jun 2023
- Inventario
- D3916
Inédita (recto, lower centre)
Sueño / De la mentira, y la ynconstancia // Inédita (in pencil; recto, lower centre)
Watermark: H C WEND / & / ZOONEN
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.
Preparatory drawing for an unedited plate of The Caprices of which only a single proof is preserved, stamped on the back of another etching in the National Library.
Mena describes this as one of the most theatrical of the etchings, with the interplay of the characters, the portrait of Goya himself (on the left of the scene), and the direct communication with the viewer through the painter's lackey who demands silence with his gesture (on the right of the drawing), indicating to the viewer not to reveal the deception.
The artist depicts himself from the front and with perfectly defined features, and is the only figure in the composition with a laughing expression; in the etching he chose to stand in profile, changing his expression there for a passionate, pleading one. He only repeated this self-representation in the series of The Caprices in Dream of Reason Produces Monsters.
According to Manuela Mena, it has also been related to Caprice 61, Volaverunt and its preparatory drawing, as they share the female figure with butterfly wings, as well as the character who requests silence, which is replaced in Volaverunt by a witch in the centre of the composition.
Specialists do not agree on the identification of the characters in this preparatory drawing and its print: some think that the main characters (left side of the scene) are the Duchess of Alba and Goya (Lefort, 1862; Nordström, 1962; Gassier, 1975; Wilson-Bareu, 1992), while others see Godoy and Queen Maria Luisa (Glendinning, 1976; Vega, 1996).
The drawing shows the imprint of the foil print, left by the pressure of the press during the intaglio process on the 218 x 152 mm copperplate.
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Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)Hamburger KunsthalleHamburg1980cat. 49
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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. 38
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Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalBiblioteca NacionalMadrid1996from September 19th to December 15th 1996cat. 119b
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Goya: images of womenNational Gallery of ArtWashington2002
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Goya: Prophet der ModerneAlte NationalgalerieBerlin2005from July 13th to October 3th 2005. Exhibitied also at the Kunsthistorischemuseum, Vienna, October 18th 2005 to January 8th 2006, consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marquéscat. 59
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Madrid2007cat. 2
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Madrid2016
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Madrid2019cat. 238
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1868p. 395
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Los Caprichos de Goya y sus dibujos preparatoriosBarcelonaInstituto Amatller de Arte Hispánico1949pp. 46, 103-104, n. 81
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Goya’s Caprichos. Beauty, Reason and CaricatureNueva JerseyPrinceton University Press1953p. 213, fig. 254
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MadridMuseo del Prado1954n. 82
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Goya, Saturno y melancolía. Consideraciones sobre el arte de GoyaStockholmAlquimis & Wiksell1962pp. 142-152
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OxfordBruno Cassirer1964Vol. II, p. 162, n. 119
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 185, n. 620
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El sueño de la mentira y de la inconstancia’ y sus raíces wattonianasGoyaMadridFundación Lázaro Galdiano1971pp. 240-245
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Dibujos de Goya, 2 volsBarcelonaNoguer1975p. 101, n. 64
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The Changing image: Prints by Francisco GoyaBostonMuseum of Fine Arts1974p. 121, n. 92
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Imaginación de Goya: nuevas fuentes para algunos de sus dibujos y pinturasMadridCSIC1976pp. 284-286
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Los Caprichos de Goyacol. Serie punto y líneaBarcelonaGustavo Gili1977p. 198
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El mundo de Goya en sus dibujosMadridUrbión1979pp. 115-117
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Goya, Das Zeitalter de Revolutionen. 1789-1830HamburgPrestel-Verlag Münche und Hamburger Kunsthalle1980pp. 102-103
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Goya. Nuevas visiones. Homenaje a Enrique Lafuente FerrariMadridFundación Amigos del Museo del Prado1987pp. 197-205
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MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando1992pp. 63-65, n. 38
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El sueño dibujadoActas de las I Jornadas de arte en Fuendetodos. Realidad y sueño en los viajes de GoyaZaragozaDiputación de Zaragoza1996pp. 53-54, il. 22
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MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado1999pp. 398-401
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WashingtonNational Gallery of Art. Washington2002p. 275
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Universidad Santiago de Compostela; Fundación Artes, Ribeira2004pp. 143-157
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Dumont2005pp. 182-183, n. 59
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MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado2019pp. 350 -351