There they go plucked (Ya van desplumados)
Original title: Plate 20 from "Los Caprichos": There they go plucked (i.e. fleeced) (Ya van desplumados)
kurzbeschreibung
Plate 20 from Francisco de Goya's print series 'Los Caprichos' of 1799, this etching with aquatint and drypoint shows a group of people sweeping together birds that lie on the ground, while a single bird escapes above them.
Description
A dimly lit interior serves as the setting. Two women in long white robes and a hooded man sweep fallen birds with brushes. Further back, another figure works with a brush; behind them appear a wall and a window. Above the group's heads, a bird flies off with wings spread. Along the bottom edge is the Spanish title 'Ya van desplumados'.
Context
Goya first published 'Los Caprichos' in 1799 as a series of 80 etchings. It attacks social abuses, superstition, and folly in late 18th-century Spain. Plate 20 belongs to a group of images dealing with prostitution and exploitation by procurers. The birds stand for the young women who are 'plucked'—that is, robbed of their innocence.
Impact
The dark, almost ghostly mood arises from flat aquatint areas and coarse linework. The scene feels oppressive and exposes the seemingly harmless sweeping as an allegory of social exploitation. That the single bird flies away hints at a possible escape and makes the scene ambivalent.
Technique
The etching was reworked with burnished aquatint and drypoint. Finely graduated tonal values and soft shadows come from the aquatint, while strong dark lines are contributed by drypoint. The plate measures 21.4 × 15 cm, printed on a sheet of 29.5 × 21 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)