Fuendetodos 1746 - 1828 Bordeaux

¡Que se la llevaron! (1st edition), 1799

They Carried her Away!

Etching and aquatint

215 x 150 mm.; 8 1/2 x 5 7/8 inches

References:

Caprichos, plate 8; Delteil 45; Harris 43 III.1

Notes:

1. A very fine impression on laid paper from the 1st edition of 1799.

2. The violence of this scene, differing from most of the other Caprichos, anticipates the scenes of murder and rape to appear later in Goya’s Desastres de la Guerra. In this work, one of the abductors is wearing the robe of a monk. This could be interpreted as an attack on the sometimes violent and illicit activities of the religious orders in Spain. The sentiment of passions unleashed in this scene is highlighted by the violent contrasts of the blacks and whites. Adding to the enigma of this work is the "mutual embrace of abductor and abducted" which might indicate some sort of "perverse dependence of the victim upon her assailant". (See: Tomlinson Graphic Evolutions : The Print Series of Francisco Goya, pp. 19-20).