A woman kneeling before an old man; page 55 from the 'Images of Spain' album (F)
ca. 1812–20
Medium
Brush and point of brush, brown ink and gray chalk-and-ink washes, on laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 8-1/16 x 5-5/8 in. (20.5 x 14.3cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
Accession Number
35.103.34
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the turbulent years around 1812–20, amid Spain's Peninsular War and Francisco de Goya y Lucientes's own deepening pessimism, the artist created intimate drawings for his private *Images of Spain* albums Page 55 from Album F, titled *A Woman Kneeling Before an Old Man*, a poignant moment of supplication: a woman humbly kneels before an elderly figure, their interaction evoking themes of vulnerability, power dynamics, and human frailty. Goya, a master of Romanticism known for his unflinching social critique in works like the *Disasters of War*, used these albums to explore the darker undercur...
About the Artist
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) · 1746–1828
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker considered the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Rising from modest provincial origins to become First Court Painter to Charles IV, Goya's career spanned the Enlightenment's optimism and the brutal Napoleonic invasion that shattered it. A mysterious illness in 1793 left him permanently deaf and ...