FRANCISCO DE GOYA - THERE WAS NO REMEDY (LOS CAPRICHOS, Nº 24) - 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 24. 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: In the centre, slightly shifted to the right, the prisoner, who in this case appears to be a woman, is on the back of a donkey, with the chorus on his head and his torso bare. His head is held on his chin by a kind of crutch; the expression on his face is crestfallen and defeated. In front of the donkey, a grotesque-looking man pulls on the halter, while another man pushes the animal from behind. In the foreground, a group of men with pointed hats and pigtails lie on top of the prisoner; in the background, two feline-faced bailiffs on horseback with whips in their hands.

The Aragonese painter has used aquatint over the entire plate, although he has left some areas in white that coincide with the donkey and the prisoner on it. In addition to emphasising their prominence in the image, this could be a mechanism for suggesting the figure's innocence.

In Ayala's manuscript, it is stated laconically: "'She was armoured: she was poor and ugly. How could there be any remedy? A somewhat more extensive explanation is given in the manuscript in the Prado Museum, which reads as follows: "This Holy Lady is persecuted by death! After writing her life they bring her out in triumph. She deserves everything, and if they do it to affront her, it is time wasted. No one can be ashamed who has no shame".

Conservation: Good impression.

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