Francisco Goya y Lucientes, Painter, plate one from Los Caprichos

Art Historical Context

Behold Francisco Goya y Lucientes, Painter, the striking inaugural plate from Goya's revolutionary series *Los Caprich* (1797–99). This self-portrait captures the Spanish master at his easel, his intense gaze piercing through the shadows, announcing his bold entry into a world of satire and fantasy. Created amid Spain's turbulent Enlightenment era, when Goya—recently deafened by illness—served as court painter to the monarchy, the series of 80 prints skewers the superstitions, follies, and hypocrisies of 18th-century Spanish society, from clergy corruption to aristocratic excess. Goya's virtuoso printmaking shines here through etching for precise lines, aquatint for moody tonal depths, drypoint for velvety burrs, and burin for sharp refinements—all on delicate ivory laid paper. These techniques, blending precision with painterly freedom, allowed Goya to evoke the dramatic chiaroscuro of his later works, bridging Rococo elegance and emerging Romanticism. At just 13.7 × 11.2 cm, the image packs profound psychological intensity. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings collection, this plate sets the capricho (whim or fancy) tone for the series, which scandalized viewers upon its 1799 release. Goya withdrew it soon after amid Inquisition threats, cementing its status as a fearless manifesto for artistic liberty and social critique. A timeless invitation to question the absurdities around us.

About the Artist

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes · 1746–1828

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746, in the small Aragonese village of Fuendetodos, Spain, to José Benito de Goya, a master gilder, and Gracia de Lucientes. The fourth of six children in a modest lower-middle-class family, Goya received a basic education before beginning his artistic training at age 14 under the local painter José Luzán y Martínez in Zaragoza, where he sp...