- 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
Volaverunt. (at the bottom)
61. (in the upper right-hand corner)
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.
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.
The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography (no. 232).
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Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. TapisserienKunsthalle BaselBasle1953from January 23th to April 12th 1953cat. 245
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De grafiek van GoyaRijksmuseum RijksprentenkabinetAmsterdam1970from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971cat. 43
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El arte de GoyaMuseo de Arte Occidental de TokioTokyo1971from 16th 1971 to January 23th 1972. Exhibited also at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, January 29th to March 15th 1972.cat. 80
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Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)Hamburger KunsthalleHamburg1980cat. 7
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Goya dans les collections suissesFundación Pierre GianaddaMartigny1982consultant editor Pierre Gassier. From June 12th to August 29th 1982cat. 58
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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. 36
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Francisco de GoyaMuseo d'Arte ModernaLugano1996exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.cat. 61, p.88
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Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalBiblioteca NacionalMadrid1996from September 19th to December 15th 1996cat. 120
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2022
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Goya, 1746-1828. Biografía, estudio analítico y catálogo de sus pinturasBarcelonaEdiciones Polígrafa s.a.1970p.396, fig. 649
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996p.106, cat. 151
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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 ediciónMadridMuseo Nacional del Prado1999pp.314-317
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ParísPinacoteca de París2013p. 230
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ZaragozaGobierno de Aragón y Fundación Bancaria Ibercaja2017p. 271
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Expérience Goya (cat. expo)LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux2021p. 97
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Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz2022p. 46