Additional Images

Provenance:

Craddock & Barnard, London, UK
Private Collection, Calgary, AB, acquired from the above in the 1980s

Literature:

Delteil 40, 56, 57, 58, 62, 71, 79, 81, 83, 87, 91, 93, 95, 96, 100, 106, 108, 111.
Harris 38, 54, 55, 56, 61, 69, 77, 79, 81, 85, 88, 91, 93, 94, 98, 104, 106, 109.

Note:

"Los Caprichos which are the earliest of Goya's large series of engravings and were published by Goya himself in 1799, have enjoyed greater popularity than the later and more moving series of Los Desastres de la Guerra. This may partly be because the Desastres were first published posthumously in 1863, by which time the Caprichos had already gained fame, but a more basic reason is probably that the subjects of the Caprichos invite imaginative interpretations which those of the Desastres do not admit, and their satire is easier to enjoy than the horrific war and famine scenes of the later series. Six years after Goya's death in 1828, the Paris Magasin Pittoresque published an article illustrated with engravings after three of the Caprichos plates, which included the following lines: "Exiled, blind, the octogenarian Francisco Goya died a few years ago in Bordeaux. His caricatures, which he called his caprices, are better known outside Spain than are his paintings; although his hatred of prejudices and abuses, together with his patriotism, are only lightly veiled in them, they are not all easy for a foreigner to understand."

Ever since the publication of the Caprichos engravings, attempts have been made to discover the meanings of the compositions, and the generally accepted view has been that they were closely connected with particular people and institutions of the day. Most of the engravings have been interpreted as bold, satirical caricatures directed against the Church, the Inquisition, the Government and the Royal Family, with particular reference to Queen Maria Luisa, her ministers Godoy, Urquijo and Caballero, whilst others have been seen as allusions to his love affair with the Duchess of Alba.

However, in the advertisement published in the Diario de Madrid of February 6, 1799, the series is described as 'a collection of prints of whimsical subjects, invented and etched by Don Francisco Goya.

In none of the compositions which form part of this collection has the author proposed to ridicule the particular defects of any one individual. Painting (like poetry) chooses from the world what it considers most appropriate to its ends: it combines in a single, fantastic figure, circumstances and characteristics which in nature appear spread over many; and by this combination, ingeniously contrived, is achieved that happy imitation by which a good artificer acquires the title of inventor, rather than of servile copyist.
This statement can be accepted as it stands, or it can be inferred that Goya was in fact alluding to particular people and, knowing that everyone would be trying to identify them, took the precaution of disclaiming his intentions and providing explanations of general significance." (1)

(1) Tomás Harris, Goya, Engravings and Lithographs I, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1983, p.95.