Francisco de Goya

Universal language (1st dream)

Clasificación
Universal language (1st dream)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1796 - 1797
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
247 x 172 mm
Técnica y soporte
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
17 Dec 2010 / 22 Jun 2023
Inventario
D. 3923
Inscripciones

Sueño 1º  (in pencil, recto; upper middle)

Ydioma universal. Dibujado y Grabado pr. Frco. De Goya año 1797  [front of the table] (in pencil, recto; lower left)

El Autor soñando. Su yntento solo es desterrar vulgaridades perjudiciales, y perpetuar con esta obra de caprichos, el testimonio solido de la verdad   (in pencil, recto; lower centre)

28 (in pencil, recto; lower left-hand corner)

3 (in red pencil; reverse, centre)

Watermark: H C Wend / & / / Zoonen

Historia

The series of drawings known as Dreams is part of the preparatory studies that Goya made for engraving The Caprices, the first germ of which can be found in some of the drawings in Notebook A and Notebook B. 

The sheets on which the Dreams are drawn show traces of having been passed through the press, which proves that they were intended to be engraved.

The series begins with Dream 1: Universal Language, as a frontispiece, although in the end its equivalent whim, The Dream of Reason Produces Monsters, was moved to number 43 in the set of engraved prints. The year 1797, which appears in this drawing, is key to the approximate dating of the entire series.

On the death of Francisco de Goya, the twenty-seven known drawings of the Dreams passed successively to his son Javier (+1854) and his grandson Mariano. They were acquired from him around 1861 by the collector and scholar Valentín Carderera. On his death in 1880 they were inherited by his nephew Mariano Carderera, from whom the Museo del Prado bought them by virtue of a Royal Order of 12 November 1886. The subjects they depict correspond to the following Caprices:

Caprice  5                Dream 19

Caprice  7                Dream 21

Caprice 11                 Dream 28

Caprice 13                Dream 25

Caprice 14                Dream 15

Caprice 16               Dream 20

Caprice 18                Dream ¿24?

Caprice 27                Dream 18

Caprice 36                Dream 22

Caprice 39                Dream 26

Caprice 40                Dream 27

Caprice 43                Dream 1

Caprice50                Dream ¿17?

Caprice 54                Dream 23

Caprice 57                Dream 11

Caprice 60               Dream 2

Caprice 62               Dream ¿10?

Caprice 63                Dream 8

Capricho 65              Dream 9

Caprice 66                Dream 5

Caprice 68                Dream 4

Caprice 69                Dream 6 y Dream 7

Caprice 70                 Dream 3 (2 variants, on obverse and reverse)                             

No equivalence          Dream 14

No equivalence          Dream 16 (on the reverse side, sketch of the same subject)

Análisis artístico

Between 1796 and 1797 he produced a series of drawings known as the Dreams, some of which have their starting point in the Notebook B or Madrid Album, in which some of the definitive prints of the Caprices series are defined with absolute fidelity. These drawings were made in pen and then transferred to copper, as the traces of the plate on the paper show, thus serving as a reference for the subsequent etching. This whole process demonstrates Goya's meticulous way of working when producing a series like the Caprices , starting from an idea sketched with brushstrokes, refining and defining the drawing to turn it into a preparatory drawing to be reproduced in the prints.

It was common practice at the time to use dreams as a means of expressing the world under the veil of the artist's imagination, without reference to concrete reality. Likewise, far from depicting specific characters or real situations, these prints are considered to be the fruit of the author's originality.

This is drawing number 1 in the series Dreams, which gives rise to Caprice 43. The Dream of Reason Produces Monsters.

The composition is more simplified than that of the preceding preparatory drawing. He eliminated the copper plate, the paint box and the faces, which were born of his imagination, as well as the donkey and the dog. 

Goya portrays himself in the same pose on a simpler table without any tools on it. The title is written on his forehead, and below the drawing is an insiption explaining the meaning of the drawing.

In the upper left corner is a large arc of light emerging from the artist's head, next to it mucielagos and owls flying in the darkness, among which a larger bat with its wings spread out stands out. Next to Goya is the lynx that can be seen in the print, but not the black cat. 

It shows traces of having been transferred to copper.

Exposiciones
  • The changing image: prints by Francisco de Goya
    Museum of Fine Arts
    1974
    From October to December 1974. Exhibited also at The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, January to March 1975
  • Los dibujos de Goya
    Museo Provincial de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    1978
    exhibition organized by Museo Provincial de Zaragoza, Ministerio de Cultura and Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, exhibition guide written by Miguel Beltrán Lloris and Micaela Pérez Sáenz. October 1978
  • Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1988
    from 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. Sayre
  • 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
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
  • Goya en tiempos de guerra
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2008
    consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués, from April 14th to July 13th 2008
  • Goya luces y sombras
    CaixaForum
    Barcelona
    2012
    consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012
  • Goya: Order and disorder
    Museum of Fine Arts
    Boston
    2014
  • Madrid
    2019
Bibliografía
  • D'ACHIARDI, Pierre
    Roma D.Anderson: Editeur
    1908
    p. 26, n. 43
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN, Francisco Javier
    Los Caprichos de Goya y sus dibujos preparatorios
    BarcelonaInstituto Amatller de Arte Hispánico
    1949
    p. 87
  • LÓPEZ-REY, José
    Goya’s Caprichos. Beauty, Reason and Caricature
    Nueva JerseyPrinceton University Press
    1953
    p. 200, fig. 173
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN. Francisco Javier
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1954
    n. 41
  • CASARIEGO, Rafael
    Goya. Los Caprichos. Colección de ochenta y cinco estampas en las que se fustigan errores y vicios humanos
    MadridEdiciones de Arte y Bibliofilia
    1966
    cat. 43
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 181, cat. 537
  • GUDIOL, José
    Goya, 1746-1828. Biografía, estudio analítico y catálogo de sus pinturas
    BarcelonaEdiciones Polígrafa s.a.
    1970
    vol. I, pp. 395, cat. 626
  • GASSIER, Pierre
    Dibujos de Goya, 2 vols
    BarcelonaNoguer
    1975
    p. 76, cat. 39
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    Los Caprichos de Goya
    col. Serie punto y línea
    BarcelonaGustavo Gili
    1977
    p. 118
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    El mundo de Goya en sus dibujos
    MadridUrbión
    1979
    p.7
  • AGULLÓ Y COBO, Mercedes
    MadridAyuntamiento de Madrid
    1982
    pp. 96-97
  • NORDSTRÖM, Folke
    Goya, Saturno y melancolía. Consideraciones sobre el arte de Goya
    StockholmAlquimis & Wiksell
    1962
    p. 118, fig. 61
  • WILSON-BAREU, Juliet
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    p. 9, Cat. 6
  • 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
    p. 241
  • RODRÍGUEZ, José Manuel (comisario)
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    1999
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B.
    Goya en tiempos de guerra
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2008
    p. 168-169
  • MATILLA, José Manuel and MENA, Manuela B.
    MadridFundación bancaria “la Caixa” y Museo Nacional del Prado
    2012
    p.78
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B. y MAURER, Gudrun (comisarias)
    Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2014
    p. 229
  • ILCHMAN, Frederick y STEPANEK, Stephanie L. (comisarios)
    Goya: Order & Disorder
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications
    2014
    p. 248
  • MATILLA, José Manuel y MENA, Manuela B. (comisarios)
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2019
    p. 130
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