Francisco de Goya

Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
219 x 152 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta y punta seca
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
29 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Volaverunt. (at the bottom)

61. (in the upper right-hand corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

There is a proof of an earlier state than that of the handwriting in the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam. It has an inscription in crossed-out sanguine, La acen bolar, and a second in pen, Volaverunt

A preparatory drawing of this engraving is in the Prado Museum.

Análisis artístico

A young woman with wings on her head, holding her mantilla with her arms folded, is flying across the sky. She is dressed like a maja, wearing a black ruffled skirt and a white bodice that emphasises her narrow waist. She stands above a group of three difficult-to-identify figures who gather their skirts with their hands below their knees; they may be three bullfighters dressed in chaquetillas or alamares.

The Ayala manuscript and the manuscript in the Biblioteca Nacional state that this engraving depicts the Duchess of Alba with three bullfighters holding her up. The manuscript in the Prado Museum notes the following: "The group of witches that serves as a pedestal for the petimetra is more of an ornament than a necessity. There are heads so full of inflammable gas that they need neither balloons nor witches to fly".

As in other prints in the series, this engraving could be interpreted in several ways. On the one hand, it could be a criticism of the fickle nature of women and the superficiality with which they approach romantic relationships. It could even be interpreted as a satirical view of witchcraft, although it could also be an allusion to the Duchess of Alba and her affairs with some of the bullfighters she protected.

It has also been suggested that this picture was born in Goya's mind out of spite because the Duchess had abandoned him. If so, Goya would be using the Latin term volaverunt (they flew) to refer to the end of their relationship and depicts the Duchess with bat-like wings - those that form her arms when she spreads her mantilla - an animal that symbolises lightness.

Conservación

The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography (no. 232).

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • De grafiek van Goya
    Rijksmuseum Rijksprentenkabinet
    Amsterdam
    1970
    from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971
  • El arte de Goya
    Museo de Arte Occidental de Tokio
    Tokyo
    1971
    from 16th 1971 to January 23th 1972. Exhibited also at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, January 29th to March 15th 1972.
  • Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • Goya dans les collections suisses
    Fundación Pierre Gianadda
    Martigny
    1982
    consultant editor Pierre Gassier. From June 12th to August 29th 1982
  • 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.
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
  • 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 artista de su tiempo y Goya artista único
    The National Museum of Western Art
    Tokyo
    1999
    from December 1st to July 3th 1999
  • 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
  • Madrid
    2017
  • Expérience Goya
    Lille
    2021
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    p.138, cat. 96
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.183, cat. 573
  • GUDIOL, José
    Goya, 1746-1828. Biografía, estudio analítico y catálogo de sus pinturas
    BarcelonaEdiciones Polígrafa s.a.
    1970
    p.396, fig. 649
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.60-62, cat. 36-37
  • 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. 151
  • 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.314-317
  • POU, Anna
    Francisco Goya. Los Caprichos
    BarcelonaEdiciones de la Central
    2011
    pp.52-54
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 230
  • CALVO RUATA, José Ignacio, BORRÁS GUALIS, Gonzalo M. and MARTÍNEZ HERRANZ, Amparo
    ZaragozaGobierno de Aragón y Fundación Bancaria Ibercaja
    2017
    p. 271
  • COTENTIN, Régis
    Expérience Goya (cat. expo)
    LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux
    2021
    p. 97
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 46
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