Having a Good Time ("Se regodean")
1807–45
Medium
Pen and dark brown ink on off-white paper. Composition outlined with pen and dark brown ink on all sides. Traces of black chalk underscript in inscription. Traces of ruling in graphite along lower border of sheet
Dimensions
7 x 5-3/16 in. (17.8 x 13.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1939
Accession Number
39.29.16
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Leonardo Alenza y Nieto’s *Having a Good Time ("Se regodean")* (ca. 1807–45) captures a darkly humorous moment in this intimate pen-and-ink drawing. Depicting skeletons reveling alongside men in a drinking scene, the work evokes the macabre wit of Spain’s Romantic era. Alenza, a Madrid-born artist influenced by Francisco Goya, blended costumbrismo—lively depictions of everyday Spanish customs—with satirical edge, often using skeletons to personify human folly and mortality. Rendered on off-white paper with dark brown ink, the composition is meticulously outlined on all sides, revealing traces of black chalk underdrawing and graphite ruling along the lower border. This technical layering highlights Alenza’s skill as a draughtsman, allowing fluid lines to convey motion and mischief in a compact 7 x 5-3/16-inch sheet. Such drawings were prized in 19th-century Spain for their immediacy, bridging preparatory sketches and standalone genre studies. Acquired via the Dodge Fund in 1939 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Drawings and Prints department, this piece reflects enduring cultural fascination with *vanitas* themes—reminders of life’s transience amid revelry. Visitors will appreciate its blend of levity and lesson, a quintessential Alenza gem inviting reflection on indulgence’s skeletal dance partner.
About the Artist
Leonardo Alenza y Nieto · 1807–1845
Leonardo Alenza y Nieto (1807–1845) was a Spanish painter and caricaturist whose brief life produced a body of work remarkable for its satirical wit, psychological penetration, and painterly freedom. Born in Madrid, he trained at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the preeminent institution for artistic education in Spain, where he absorbed the technical foundations of academic pai...