Francisco de Goya

Datos Generales
Cronología
1777 - 1778
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
116 x 124 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
17 Nov 2009 / 14 Jun 2023
Inventario
(P00776)
Otros títulos:
Muchachos inflando una vejiga
Historia

See The Kite.

Análisis artístico

The tapestry resulting from this cartoon was to hang over the north door of the dining room and formed a pair with that of Boys Picking Fruit.

As pointed out by Tomlinson, the scene may have been inspired by the print La vessie by Philippe Le Bas (Paris, National Library), based on the painting by David Teniers. The subject of children's games serves as a counterpoint to the main cartoons starring adults, The Kite and Card Players, and, continuing with the symbolism of vanitas, this work appears to aim to counteract the concerns of the grown-ups, the uselessness and futility of their science and their gambling, with the carefree play of children.

This is one of Goya's earliest representations of children, a topic which he would later become known for thanks to his ability to depict them with great realism, candour and tenderness, his skill already evident in the face of the boy waiting to tie the knot in the bladder.

Because of its pastel colours and the subject matter of games and the wind, Cruzada Villaamil saw a close relationship between this cartoon and that of The Kite. Just like the children have fun blowing up the bladder until it bursts, the adults delight in the flying of a kite, as ephemeral and passing as the wind.

Further away in the distance, on the left, we can see two women. The more visible of the two is the one sitting on the left-hand side, with her head resting on her hand in a gesture of melancholy. Tomlinson has interpreted this figure as a sibyl, confirming the fleeting nature of childish fun and the inevitable passage of time. Other writers, including Morales, are of the opinion that Goya was simply representing a traditional scene of children at play.

On the right there were initially two labourers wearing wide-brimmed hats to protect themselves from the sun. Although they appear in one of the tapestries, they have disappeared from the painting after being rather clumsily painted out. Weavers at the Royal Tapestry Factory were almost certainly responsible, wishing to make their job easier, since other tapestries exist in which these two figures do not appear.

Exposiciones
  • Goya and his times
    The Royal Academy of Arts
    London
    1963
    cat. 66
  • Goya
    Palacio de Pedralbes
    Barcelona
    1977
    from April 12th to June 30th 1977
  • Panorama de la pintura española desde los Reyes Católicos a Goya
    Palacio del Concejo Deliberante
    Buenos Aires
    1980
    organized by Ministerio de Cultura de España
  • Pintura española de bodegones y floreros de 1600 a Goya
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1983
    consultant editor Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, November 1983 to January 1984
  • Goya
    La Lonja, Torreón Fortea y Museo Pablo Gargallo
    Zaragoza
    1992
    consultant editor Julián Gállego
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Tapices y cartones de Goya
    Palacio Real
    Madrid
    1996
    organized by Patrimonio Nacional and Sociedad Estatal Goya 96 at the Palacio Real, Madrid, consultant editor Concha Herrero Carretero. May to June 1996
  • Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2014
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    Bibliography']['number
    París
    1928-1950
    vol. I, p. 68, cat. 9
  • SAMBRICIO, Valentín de
    Tapices de Goya
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridPatrimonio Nacional
    1946
    pp. 104, 215, cat. 18 y láms. 82-83
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    Bibliography']['number
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 86, cat. 83
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    Bibliography']['number
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 246, cat. 72
  • ANGELIS, Rita de
    L’opera pittorica completa di Goya
    Bibliography']['number
    MilanRizzoli
    1974
    pp. 94, 95, cat. 78
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    Bibliography']['number
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. I, p. 90 y p. 124 (il.)
  • ARNAIZ, José Manuel
    Francisco de Goya, cartones y tapices
    col. col. "Espasa Arte"
    Bibliography']['number
    Espasa Calpe
    1987
    pp. 83-85, 152, 260, cat. 22C y p. 86 (i
  • TOMLINSON, Janis A.
    Francisco de Goya. Los cartones para tapices y los comienzos de su carrera en la corte de Madrid
    col. col. "Ensayos de Arte Cátedra"
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridCátedra
    1987
    pp. 84-87 y p. 83 (il.)
  • LUNA, Juan J. (Comisario)
    Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1996
    pp. 294-295, cat. 15 y p. 85 (il.)
  • SANCHO, José Luis
    Salas del Palacio Real de El Pardo para las que se tejieron tapices sobre cartones de Francisco de Goya: identificación de las habitaciones y ajuste de las obras de Goya en los alzados de las paredes
    in HERRERO CARRETERO, Concha (curator, Tapices y cartones de Goya (catalogue of the exhibition organizated at the Palacio Real de Madrid, from may to june 1996)
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridPatrimonio Nacional, Goya 96, Lunwerg
    1996
    p. 166 (il.)
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B. y MAURER, Gudrun (comisarias)
    Goya en Madrid. Cartones para tapices 1775-1794
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2014
    p. 299
Ficha en SAAC

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