- Cronología
- Ca. 1797 - 1799
- Dimensiones
- 203 x 151 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Aguafuerte, aguatinta bruñida y buril
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Undisputed work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 29 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
- Inventario
- 225
Quien lo creyera! (at the bottom)
62. (in the upper right-hand corner)
See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.
A preparatory drawing of this engraving has survived.
Two naked witches engage in a fierce fight as they fall. Below them, a feline-looking monster awaits them, raising its sharp claws wide open. The scene takes place at night, in a mountainous space.
In the Ayala manuscript the following is written about this engraving: "Two old men given to lechery are devoured by monsters". In the manuscript of the Prado Museum, the print is commented on as follows: "See here a cruel quarrel over which is the witchier of the two: who would think that the petite and the frizzy would repel each other like this: friendship is the daughter of virtue; the wicked may be accomplices, but not friends".
According to Edith Helman, the source of inspiration for this engraving could be the first canto of Paradise Lost (1667) by John Milton (London, 1608-1674), translated by José Cadalso (Cádiz, 1741-Gibraltar, 1728) and by Gaspar Melchor Jovellanos (Gijón, 1744-Navia, 1811). It tells how the rebellious spirits, plunged from the region of heaven, fall into the immense abyss.
It is likely that Goya may have become acquainted with this type of text during his stay in the Cadiz house of Sebastián Martínez y Pérez (1747-1800), a collector of engravings and paintings and the owner of an important library. At that time Cadiz had flourishing commercial relations with England, which would also have implied cultural exchanges. It is also possible that the Aragonese painter consulted this work in the library of the Duke and Duchess of Osuna, for whom he executed a series of paintings depicting scenes of witchcraft.
The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography (no. 233).
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Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. TapisserienKunsthalle BaselBasle1953from January 23th to April 12th 1953cat. 246
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Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)Hamburger KunsthalleHamburg1980cat. 39
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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. 173
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Francisco de GoyaMuseo d'Arte ModernaLugano1996exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.cat. 62, p.89
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Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996Galerie KornfeldBern1996from November 21st 1996 to January 1997cat. 68
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Goya e la tradizione italianaFondazione Magnani RoccaMamiano di Traversetolo (Parma)2006consultant editors Fred Licht and Simona Tosini Pizzetti. From September 9th to December 3th 2006cat. 62, p.161
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Goya. Opera graficaPinacoteca del Castello di San GiorgioLegnano2006exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007p.40
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Goya luces y sombrasCaixaForumBarcelona2012consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012cat. 38
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Goya et la modernitéPinacothèque de ParisParís2013from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014cat. 136
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London2015cat. 28
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2022
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Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.Bibliography']['numberOxfordBruno Cassirer1964pp.139, cat. 97
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaBibliography']['numberParísOffice du livre1970p.183, cat. 575
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Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertesBibliography']['numberMadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando1992p.106, cat. 152
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalBibliography']['numberMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996p.106, cat. 152
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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 ediciónBibliography']['numberMadridMuseo Nacional del Prado1999pp.318-321
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ParísPinacoteca de París2013p. 197
Bibliography']['number
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LondonThe Courtauld Gallery2015p. 137
Bibliography']['number
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Goya. In the Norton Simon MuseumBibliography']['numberPasadenaNorton Simon Museum2016pp. 42-75
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Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz2022p. 47
Bibliography']['number