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FRANCISCO JOSE de GOYA y LUCIENTES
Fuendetodos 1746 - 1828 Bordeaux
Ni mas ni menos
Neither more nor less
Caprichos, Plate 41
Etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin 200 x 150 mm.; 7 7/8x5 7/8 in.
Prado text explanation:
Hace muy bien en retratarse: asi sabrán quien es los que no le conozcan ni ayan visto.
He does well to have his portrait painted. Thus those, who have not known him and who have not even seen him, will know who he is.
Notes:
In this work, Goya continues his theme of the upside-down world. The ass, being painted by a monkey, has an air of self-importance and gravity which is emphasized by a strong light cast upon his features. The monkey-painter is very small, dark and subservient to his "important" client. It is the same sort of pictorial rapport which Goya establishes with his shadowy depiction of himself off to the side of his portrait of Carlos Ill's prime minister Conde de Floridablanca in 1783 (Collection: Banco de Espaha, Madrid). In the Floridablanca portrait, the strong lighting again falls solely on the subject with his white hair and brilliant, red uniform. For this etching, Goya executed a preliminary drawing1 on which he inscribed: "You will not die of hunger" ("No morirás de ambre"), perhaps showing his disdain for portraitists who create illusions for their clients.