reales (about $35 in today´s currency) for each book of eighty engravings. Goya lived at the Calle del Desengaño 1 from 1779 until at least 1784. An early draft by Goya of an advertisement for the series shows that he was proposing to sell them through a bookseller; he must have been unable to find anyone interested in the project and was forced to put them on sale in the shop below his apartment, surrounded by bottles of liqueurs and perfumes.

THEMES Vagueness and self-censorship were two important LOS CAPRICHOS virtues in many periods of European art — particularly Los Caprichos is a set of 80 etchings, or engravings, in times of the Inquisition. But Goya’s critiques of the first published in 1799. This exhibition features an Spanish clergy and society are blatant in plates like early fifth edition, probably printed between 1881 and number 49, in which monks are shown as drunken, 1886. Enigmatic and controversial, Los Caprichos was gluttonous ghouls. Plate 69- one of the most horrifying created in a time of revolution, social repression and of the images, with a graphically flatulent child at its economic crisis in Spain. Influenced by Enlightenment center- addresses pedophilia. Prostitutes and witches thinking, Goya set out to analyze the human condition pop up frequently, sometimes together. and denounce superstition, religious fanaticism and societal ills such as pedophilia or prostitution, avarice, witchcraft or frivolity. Los Caprichos was Goya´s passionate declaration that the chains of social backwardness had to be broken if humanity was to advance. The series attests to the artist's political liberalism and to his revulsion at ignorance and intellectual oppression, mirroring his ambivalence toward authority and the church. The first certain record of the full set of Los Caprichos is a receipt dated January 17, 1799, for the four copies In plate 68 an old witch transports a young prostitute bought by the duke of Osuna. A month later two on a broomstick. An owl flying over them locks in the newspaper announcements appeared in the Diario on message- the word owl (búho) was slang for prostitute. Wednesday, February 6, and in the Gazeta on True crime makes an appearance in the etchings too, Tuesday, February 19, 1799 (España Moderna, No. as it is the case of plate 32, featuring a woman who 138, Madrid, 1900), to the effect that a collection of helped her lover murder her husband in 1797 (also one prints of fanciful subjects, invented and etched by Don of the pure aquatints in the series). , was on sale at a perfume and liqueur Although aristocracy was also a target, Goya’s royal shop in the Calle del Desengaño 1, Madrid, for 320 patrons protected him after he was denounced to the Inquisition. Goya had been appointed “pintor del rey” Many of the 80 prints in Los Caprichos contain (painter to the king) by two successive monarchs, and deformed bodies and imagery of animals, beasts and in 1803 he presented the copper plates for “Los monsters in a variety of comical, melancholy and Caprichos” to the second of these, Charles IV, who sometimes disturbing compositions. Donkeys, parrots, provided Goya’s only surviving son, Javier, with a bats, goblins, devils and witches not only illustrate the pension. extremes of Goya’s imagination but symbolize his The most famous etching from the series, and one that observations of the darker themes of human behavior many think Goya considered for the frontispiece of the in Spanish society. publication is “The sleep of reason produces monsters” In Plates 37 to 42 a series of donkeys dressed as (Plate 43), which typically appears in art history humans plays on the common association of the textbooks surveying the period, depicts the artist with donkey or ass with foolish or stubborn behavior. his head cradled, face down in his arms, resting on a Works portraying the donkey as teacher, music table with his drawing tools around him. Owls, bats connoisseur or doctor, question roles of knowledge and monsters swarm over him, while a wide-eyed cat and wisdom in society, while another showing a is on the floor next to him. donkey having his portrait painted by a monkey ridicules the pretentious. Bats also feature heavily in Los Caprichos, often symbolizing insanity. In “The sleep of reason produces monsters” bats and other winged creatures hauntingly illustrate the sleeping man’s unconscious fears. Again in plate 45 bats add menace to a monstrous scene of witches feeding on the mutilated remains of small children, an image Goya made after reading about acts of infanticide. Goya’s distorted caricatures of animals and monsters, and everything in between, examine the more comical and disturbing examples of human behavior in 18th century Spanish society. For the viewer, they are often Is Goya celebrating Enlightenment reason, or bizarre, puzzling or uncomfortable to look at, but Romantic irrationality? Does he believe in the without a doubt they stimulate reflection. individual’s ability to act, or is he telling us to duck Love and Death: Relationships. Many of the first 40 and cover and come back when the coast is clear? prints in Goya’s Los Caprichos explore relationships Deformed bodies, Animals, Beasts and Monsters. between men and women across different levels of Los Caprichos’ subhuman cast includes goblins, society. Goya observes and exaggerates a variety of monks, aristocrats, procuresses, prostitutes, and interactions between men and women, ranging from animals acting like human fools; these personages the tragedy of love lost, to the more superficial populate a world on the margins of reason, where no realities of arranged marriages and high society clear boundaries distinguish reality from fantasy. courtship. Plates 9 and 10 show the tragic end of two Aquatint, a similar process, can be used to create large relationships through death. Love and Death (plate 10) even areas of tone without extra lines or crosshatching. warns proud males against the folly of dueling. The effect involves sprinkling an acid-resistant resin Mortally wounded, a young man dies in his lover’s dust on to the plate. When it is immersed, the acid eats arms. In contrast, prints like What a sacrifice! (plate around the fine particles. Again, the texture and depth 14) and Which of them is more overcome? (plate 27) of tone is controlled by the amount of time the plate is deal sarcastically with the less passionate relationships immersed in acid. of convenience or necessity. In both, a woman is Through a combination of etching and aquatint Goya shown to be less than impressed by her male suitor. produced remarkable variations in tone, demonstrating In other Caprichos, Goya targets the habit of forced excellent control over light and dark areas in his work. marriage. Young girls were forced into arranged In prints such as They are hot (Plate 13), characters are marriages in exchange for wealth for themselves, their either illuminated or left in the shadows to dramatic families and positions in society. There were many effect. girls from poor backgrounds who were forced into prostitution. The “suenos” (usually old women) who received a fee for “selling” these girls also “helped” with arranged marriages. Other Caprichos, such as They Carried Her Off (plate 8) are much darker and allude to issues of theft, blackmail, kidnapping and abuse when it comes to the relationship between men and women. Across these scenes, both men and women are shown as victims and oppressors by Goya. FRANCISCO DE GOYA’S LIFE AND TIMES Technique and Style. Though primarily a painter in Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born in his role as an artist to the King, in his own time Goya , Spain in 1746 and died in Bordeaux, began to explore the possibilities of etching as a France in 1828. Throughout a 60-year career as an medium for social comment. Los Caprichos is his first artist, he created works that demonstrated enormous series of printed works and shows a move towards an variety and creativity in his approach to art. emphasis on tone over color in his art practice. As a teenager Goya worked as an apprentice to the Los Caprichos combines both etching and aquatint artist José Luzán, from whom he learned to draw by techniques. The process of Etching involves coating a copying prints of several masters. By 1771 he had copper plate with a wax, acid-resistant ground, and established himself as an independent painter in then drawing into the ground with an etching needle. Saragossa and at the age of 28 he was able to secure a The exposed surface is ‘bitten’ into when the plate is position in Madrid painting cartoons for the Royal immersed in an acid bath. The length of exposure can Tapestry Manufactory. By 1786 Goya had earned the control the depth of the etched line and variations in title of Painter to the King and was able to paint with tone. increased independence while creating portraits of members of the Spanish royal family. However, Goya is perhaps better known for creating record the world as he really saw it, with all its horror, images critical of changes in the world around him. tragedy and ugliness. His later work famously records scenes of violence Goya’s personal struggles also deserve mention. In and destruction during the Napoleonic wars and 1792 he suffered an illness — its exact nature is not openly comments on social injustice and senseless known, although possible culprits include typhoid cruelty within Spanish society. fever, Ménières disease and lead poisoning from his Goya bravely expressed these feelings through his paints — and lost his hearing. It’s dangerous to rely paintings and graphic art. Los Caprichos, his first too heavily on artists’ biographies to explain their series of etchings, clearly shows his willingness to work, but there is no question that Goya’s oeuvre took a dark turn shortly thereafter.

ACTIVITIES (**NOTE: Upper division students are expected to answer all the questions in Spanish. Lower division students are encouraged to do the same as best as they can**)

1. Goya´s Word. Goya used his art to express his concern for Spanish society at the turn of the century. With his etchings, Goya targeted religion, morality, love, ignorance, marriage and superstition. Circulate through the room and classify the following plates based on the themes conveyed.

Title Ignorance Vices Superstition Witchcraft Prostitution Pedophilia Other (write)

Plate 10

Plate 12

Plate 13

Plate 14

Plate 17

Plate20

Plate 24

Plate 25

Plate 39

Plate 43

Plate 55

Plate 56

Plate 62

Plate 70

Plate 79

2. Vices and sins. Find the following plates and a) record the number of the print next to the image; b) observe the story and its meaning/criticism; c) link the print to the vice that you think best describes Goya´s intention. Some illustrations might suit more than one meaning.

3. Education. To the eyes of Goya, superstition and lack of education produced ignorance, represented by the donkey or ass. Look at the following plates and explain a) the role of the ass in each one and b) the social criticism conveyed. Write the titles for each print.

TITLES: ______

DESCRIPTION: ______

4. My Capricho. What was your favorite etching? Explain your selection and describe it, making sure that you include the social criticism conveyed as well as your personal interpretation of it. ______Can you draw (copy) your Capricho here? ______5. More about Goya´s Caprichos. Answer the following questions. a. What information would you highlight after watching the video? ______b. What is the “Enlightment” period? ______c. What was the “” and how did it operate? ______d. Would you consider Goya´s Caprichos to be relevant in today´s society? If yes, explain and provide examples. If no, what other criticisms, vices or sins do you think should be more suitable for our society? ______