FRANCISCO DE GOYA - CORRECTION (LOS CAPRICHOS, Nº 46) - 1918

Subject: Original engraving by Goya from the first half of the 20th century. Tenth edition. The Caprichos - Francisco de Goya.

Publication: Madrid, Real Calcografía, 1918. 10th edition. 

Technique: Etching and burnished aquatint. Beveled. Black and white with sepia tones on laid paper that looks similar to the first edition. Watermarked paper (Portrait of Goya with hat) Numbered in the upper right corner with 46. Title in plate in the lower part. This edition is very well printed and is the best after the fourth edition, the plates have been cleaned and cleaned and the printing has been improved.

Size: 22 x 15 cm [print], 33'5 x 26'5 cm [paper].

Description: The centre of the print is occupied by a figure seated in profile and covered with a tunic; his face is animal-like and his gesture is solemn. Behind him are three figures, all of them with stern expressions, and in front of him a man with a compassionate face, wearing a coat and a toupee. In the lower left corner, another man in a habit reads a devotional book on his knees, and next to him, another praying figure clasps his hands with interlaced fingers with a sorrowful air. Strange beings, hybrids between men and bats, fly in the sky in bizarre postures; they resemble the flying figure in Capricho no. 48, The Snitches.

Goya has made some reserves of varnish with which he has created the white parts such as those seen in the central figure and the one in the lower left-hand corner of the print. These lighter areas contrast sharply with the rest of the engraving, which remains in semi-darkness.

The manuscripts that explain The Caprices seem to agree that it is an act of witchcraft piloted by a character of no particular merit. In the manuscript in the Prado Museum there is a reference to the sorcerer who ran the seminary in Barahona. It is possible that one of the sources of inspiration for this engraving is the work by Leandro Fernández de Moratín (Madrid, 1760-Paris, 1828) entitled " Self-belief celebrated in the city of Logroño on 6 and 7 November 1610". It refers to the witches' covens that were practised in the countryside of Barahona, a small village in the south of Soria, which was long considered an important centre of witchcraft.

Conservation: Good impression.

References: T., Harris, Goya: Engravings and Lithographs.