Plate 59 from "Los Caprichos": And still they don't go! (Y aun no se van!)
Original title: Plate 59 from "Los Caprichos": And still they don't go! (Y aun no se van!)
kurzbeschreibung
A man braces a massive stone with one hand while supporting himself on the ground with the other — this motif defines plate 59 from Francisco de Goya's series Los Caprichos, created in 1799. The etching, executed in aquatint and burin, belongs to the satirical prints that target human folly and social ills.
Description
In the foreground, a man struggles with a heavy stone: one hand pushes it upward, the other props his body against the ground, his face marked by exertion. Behind him, other figures lie on the ground, some appearing exhausted, others injured. Gray tones dominate the image; light falling from the upper left emphasizes the shadows on the right. Precise lines and the exact rendering of figures and stone structure the composition.
Context
Los Caprichos appeared in 1799 as a series of 80 etchings in which Goya addressed Spanish social criticism and Enlightenment ideas. His own experiences with superstition, ignorance, and the social ills of his time fed into them. Plate 59 is among the later works of the cycle, which increasingly deal with the unteachability of human behavior.
Impact
The gloomy mood and the tense posture of the figures evoke an oppressive atmosphere. The title ironizes the event and makes visible the absurdity that people continue working despite obvious exhaustion.
Technique
Etching with burnished aquatint and burin. The aquatint provides fine gradations of gray and soft shading; the burin supplies exact lines for the details of figures and stone.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)