Place made
Madrid
Geographical location
Madrid, Spain
Medium
etching, burnished aquatint on paper
Edition
1st edition
State
Harris (1968) 161 II, first edition
Dimensions
21.0 x 15.0 cm (plate)
31.0 x 21.8 cm (sheet)
19.1 x 13.7 cm (image)
Credit line
South Australian Government Grant 1980
Accession number
807G44
Signature and date
Not signed. Not dated.
Provenance
Samuel Rogers (b.1763-d.1855); John Chaloner Smith (b.1827-d.1897) Dublin; William Rothenstein (1894-1945), London, owned 1894-1945; Laurie Deval & Percy Muir (1945-c.1979), owned 1945-c.1979; purchased by the Gallery from Frederick Mulder & Christopher Mendez, London, owned 1979-80.
Catalogue raisonne
Del. 63 i/ii; Harris 61 III first edition
Media category
Print
Collection area
European prints
  • In the late 1790s Francisco Goya, Spain’s leading painter, turned to printmaking as an outlet for more personal and imaginative subjects.  Los caprichos, the first of his four great etched series, uses fantasy and satire to draw attention to human follies and vices.  Created in a climate of political instability, Goya’s eighty plates also provide veiled social criticism of the times, alluding to greed, corruption, foolishness and evil, particularly amongst the clergy and aristocracy. 

     

    They’ve already got a seat is one of the more amusingly absurd images from Los Caprichos.  Young girls with petticoats and chairs on their head are oblivious to the laughter of men in the background.  It seems to refer to the silliness of some young girls and may be an ironic play on the Spanish expression ‘sentar la cabeza’ (to seat one’s head), which means to be sensibly organised.

     

     

  • CATALOGUE ENTRY

    In the late 1790s Francisco Goya, Spain’s leading painter, turned to printmaking as an outlet for more personal and imaginative subjects.  Los caprichos, the first of his four great etched series, uses fantasy and satire to draw attention to human follies and vices. The images, which resist clear interpretation, extend the tradition of etched capriccio, no doubt inspired by Giambattista Tiepolo’s Scherzi di fantasia.

    Created in a climate of political instability, Goya’s eighty plates also provide veiled social criticism of the times, alluding to greed, corruption, foolishness and evil, particularly amongst the clergy and aristocracy.  In this respect Goya may have been encouraged by British satirical prints.

    They’ve already got a seat is one of the more amusingly absurd images from Los caprichos.  Young girls with petticoats and chairs on their head are oblivious to the laughter of men in the background.  It seems to refer to the silliness of some young girls and may be an ironic play on the Spanish expression “sentar la cabeza” (to seat one’s head) which meant to be sensibly organised.

    Goya, like Dürer and Rembrandt, is one of the great printmakers in Western art, and like the latter explored dark tonality in his etchings.  Los caprichos is remarkable for his mastery of the relatively new medium of aquatint to create heightened chiaroscuro effects.

     

    Julie Robinson, Five Centuries of Genius: European Master Printmaking, Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2000, p.76.

  • Five Centuries of Genius: European Master Printmaking

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 5 May 2000 – 2 October 2000
  • Dark Visions: the etchings of Goya

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 30 August 1996 – 10 November 1996
    Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 20 September 1997 – 30 November 1997
    Waikato Museum of Art and History, 12 January 1998 – 28 February 1998
    Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, 9 April 1998 – 24 May 1998
    Rockhampton Art Gallery, 5 June 1998 – 26 July 1998
    Cairns Art Gallery, 7 August 1998 – 20 September 1998
    Art Gallery of New South Wales, 30 September 1998 – 29 November 1998
  • [Book] Dark Visions: The Etchings of Goya.
  • [Book] Five Centuries of Genius: European Master Printmaking.
  • [Book] Harris, Tomás. Goya. Engravings and lithographs.
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    A bad night

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G54
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    A gift for the master

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G65
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    All will fall

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G37
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    And his house is on fire

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G36
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    And so was his grandfather

    1797-98; published 1799
    aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G57
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    And still they don't go!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G77
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Because she was susceptible

    1797-98; published 1799
    aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G50
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Be quick, they are waking up

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G66
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Blow

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G87
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Bravissimo!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G56
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Can't anyone untie (annul) us?

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G73
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Correction

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G64
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Devout profession

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G88
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Don't scream, stupid

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G84
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Even thus he cannot make her out

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G25
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Francisco Goya y Lucientes, painter

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper, mounted on paper support
    Accession no: 807G18
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    God forgive her: and it was her mother

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G34
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Here comes the bogey-man

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G21
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Hobgoblins

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G67
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    How they pluck her!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G39
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Hush

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G46
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    It is better to be lazy

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G86
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    It is nicely stretched

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G35
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    It is time

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 686G14
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    It is time

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G53
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Lads making ready

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G29
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Look how solemn they are!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G81
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Love and death

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G28
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Might not the pupil know more?

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G55
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Nanny's boy

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G22
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Neither more nor less

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G59
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Nobody knows himself

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G24
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    No one has seen us

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G61
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Nothing could be done about it

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G42
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Of what ill will he die?

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G58
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Out hunting for teeth

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G30
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Poor little girls!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G40
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    She fleeces him

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 554G5
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    She prays for her

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G49
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Sleep overcomes them

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G52
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Swallow it, dog

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G76
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Tantalus

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G27
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    That certainly is being able to read

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G47
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    The Chinchillas

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G68
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    The filiation

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G75
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    There is plenty to suck

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G63
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    There they go plucked (ie fleeced)

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G38
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    The shamefaced one

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G72
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    The sleep of reason produces monsters

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G19
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    They are hot

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G31
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    They carried her off !

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G26
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    They have flown

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G79
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G20
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    They spin finely

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G62
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    They've already got a seat

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G44
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Those specks of dust

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G41
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    To rise and to fall

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G74
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828
    etching, aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G51
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Trials

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G78
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Two of a kind

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G23
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Wait till you've been anointed

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G85
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    What a golden beak!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G71
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    What a sacrifice!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G32
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    What a tailor can do!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G70
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    What one does to another

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G69
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    When day breaks we will be off

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G89
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Where is mother going?

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G83
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Which of them is the more overcome?

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G45
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Who would have thought it!

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G80
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Why hide them?

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G48
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Wonderful advice

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint, engraving on paper
    Accession no: 807G33
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    Yes he broke the pot

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G43
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828
    etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint on paper
    Accession no: 807G82
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    You who cannot

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G60
  • Francisco Goya 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828

    You will not escape

    1797-98; published 1799
    etching, burnished aquatint on paper
    Accession no: 807G90