The Blind Singer
1824/1828
Medium
etching, aquatint and/or lavis, drypoint and burin on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 18.8 × 12 cm (7 3/8 × 4 3/4 in.) sheet: 48.6 × 30.8 cm (19 1/8 × 12 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1951.10.36
Art Historical Context
Francisco Goya's *The Singer*, created between 1824 and1828, captures the artist's late-career fascination with human folly and societal absurdity. By this time, the Spanish master—deaf, disillusioned from the Peninsular War and political turmoil—had retreated into exile in France, producing a series of prints known as *Losverbios* (or *Los Disates*). This small yet plate (18.8 12 cm) portrays blind musician amid shadowy figures evoking themes of deception vulnerability, and the grotesque hallmarks of Goya's Romantic of superstition and ignorance. oya's technical brilliance shines in his inno...
About the Artist
Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya, born on March 30, 1746, in the small Aragonese village of Fuendetodos, Spain, to a gilder father and a mother from a family claiming minor nobility, displayed artistic promise early. At age 14, he apprenticed under painter José Luzán y Martínez in Zaragoza, honing his skills by copying prints before working independently. After unsuccessful attempts to enter Madrid's Real Academia ...