Goya caprichos series. Goya's Caprichos

“Caprichos” (Spanish: Los Caprichos - “whims”) - a famous series of 80 etchings that was created Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1799. A notice of this event appeared in one of the Madrid newspapers almost immediately after the first 300 copies of “Caprichos” went on sale: “Senor Francisco de Goya made a series of etchings on fantastic subjects. From all the oddities and absurdities inherent in our society, from the numerous prejudices and misconceptions, the author selected those that seemed to him most suitable for fantastic and at the same time instructive pictures. Signor de Goya is far from intending to touch upon certain persons and events with ridicule or condemnation; his goal is to stigmatize typical traits, vices and perversions inherent in many...”

Most people who came to look at the Caprichos for sale did not learn a lesson from them, did not gain knowledge, they only leafed through the contents of the folder with etchings in bewilderment. I wonder how our contemporaries will react to the next publication of “Caprichos”?

(Total 26 photos)

1. Having determined the order in which the sheets would lie and numbered the etchings, Goya began to come up with names for them. If the name turned out to be too “pale”, he added a short interpretation to it. “Tantalus” is the name he gave to a drawing in which a lover grieves over his dead beloved, secretly watching him, and ridiculed himself in his explanation: “If he had been more polite and less annoying, she might have come to life.”

2. In this album of whimsical etchings, the artist depicted literally everything that happens to the women of the city of Madrid. They marry ugly rich people, they take advantage of simpletons who are in love, they rob everyone they can, and they themselves are robbed by moneylenders. Etching “They say “yes” and extend their hand to the first person they meet” Goya commented: “The ease with which many women agree to marriage is explained by the hope of living in it more freely than before.”

3. “What a sacrifice!”: “As usual, the groom is not one of the most attractive, but he is rich, and at the price of the freedom of the unfortunate girl, a poor family buys well-being. That is life".

5. “She was kidnapped!”: “A woman who does not know how to respect herself finds herself at the mercy of the first person she meets, and when nothing can be done, she is surprised that she was kidnapped.”

6. “Here they are plucked”: “Since they have already been plucked, let them go away, others will come in their place.”

7. “How they pluck her!”: “But even on tiptoes there are kites that will strip them down to a feather. It’s not for nothing that they say: as it comes around, so it will respond.”

8. Madrid women are loving and courteous, proudly strolling and riding in magnificent carriages, or, piteously cowering, appearing in court for debauchery. At the same time, they are invariably surrounded by a swarm of immoral dandies, rude people and procurers. Goya explains the etching entitled “One Worth the Other”: “There have been many disputes about who is worse: men or women. The vices of both come from bad upbringing. The debauchery of men entails the debauchery of women. The young lady in this picture is as reckless as the dandy talking to her, and as for the two vile old women, they deserve each other.”

9. “He won’t even be able to see her anyway”: “How can he recognize her? To get to know a woman properly, a lorgnette is not enough. We need common sense and life experience, and this is what our poor thing lacks.”

10. Under the etching in which the secretary of the sacred tribunal reads the verdict to the priestess of love, Goya signed: “Is it possible to treat an honest woman so badly, who diligently and successfully served the whole world for a piece of bread and butter! Ugliness!"

11. “No one knows himself”: “The light is the same masquerade. His face, clothes and voice are all feigned. Everyone wants to appear to be something other than what they really are. Everyone deceives each other, and you don’t recognize anyone.”

12. Goya makes surprisingly accurate and relevant observations even for our time regarding a variety of life situations and problems. He does not ignore the topic of raising children. The description of the etching “Here comes the beech” sounds like this: “A disastrous mistake in primary education consists in inducing fear in a child of the non-existent and making him fear the beeches more than his father.”

13. Etching “Careless Parenting”: “Indulgence and self-indulgence make children capricious, stubborn, arrogant, greedy, lazy, obnoxious. Growing up, they become undersized. That’s what this mama’s boy is like.”

14. “After all, he broke the jug!”: “Which of them is worse?”

15. Francisco Goya makes fun of human vices: stupidity, stinginess, thirst for profit, immorality, betrayal... Etching “Isn’t the student smarter?” the artist accompanies with an apt comment: “It is not known whether he is smarter or stupider, but there is no doubt that it is impossible to find a more important, thoughtful person than this teacher.”

16. Etching “Bravissimo!” Francisco Goya explains this: “If it is enough to understand long ears, That best connoisseur can not found; but he wouldn’t clap for something that sounds really bad.”

17. “Up to the third generation”: “This poor animal was driven crazy by experts in heraldry and genealogies. It is not alone."

18. “What disease will he die from?”: “The doctor is an excellent one, capable of reflection, focused, leisurely, serious. What more could you want?

19. “Exactly”: “He ordered his portrait - and did it well. Those who are not familiar with him and have not seen him will recognize everything from the portrait.”

20. “Informers”: “Of all types of evil spirits, informers are the most disgusting and at the same time the most ignorant in the art of witchcraft.”

21. “What a tailor won’t do!”: “You often see how a funny freak is transformed into a pompous nonentity, empty, but very representative in appearance! Truly great is the power of a clever tailor and equally great is the stupidity of those who judge by appearance.”

22. “And his house is on fire”: “Until the fire pumps refresh him, he will not be able to take off his pants and interrupt the conversation with the lamp. Such is the power of wine!”

23. “Why hide it?”: “The answer is very simple: because he doesn’t want to spend it, and he doesn’t spend it because, although he has already turned 80, he is still afraid that he will not have enough money to live on. The calculations of stinginess are so deceptive.”

24. “Until death” - an etching that reveals to us the vile, sad picture, sung hundreds of times in every way - ridicule of an aging coquette. “She preens herself - and very opportunely. Today is her birthday, she turned 75 years old, and her friends will come to see her.” But, no matter how poor the idea of ​​​​the drawing, it is good in itself. In this old woman, greedily looking in the mirror, there is no annoying morality, no empty mockery, but there is a dispassionate, sad, simple and naked truth.

25. The second edition of “Caprichos” was published by the Royal Art Printing House large circulation, a set of etchings could be bought in all major Spanish cities. “Caprichos” sold out quickly, despite the fact that they were still incomprehensible to most. People only paid 288 reals for a set of etchings because there was so much hype and chatter surrounding them. Goya left an explanation for the etching “Everyone Will Perish”: “Amazing! The experience of the dead is of no use to those who are on the brink of death. There’s nothing you can do about it, everyone will die.”

26. The material was prepared with the support of the Center for Propaganda and Development of Creativity of People Suffering from Mental Disorders, Daria Evseeva evseeva-centre.ru

Information about lectures and events of the Daria Evseeva Center -

On February 6, 1799, a long advertisement appeared in the Diario de Madrid. It advertised a collection of 80 engravings. In the announcement, the author apologized at length and profusely; warned that satire is not directed against specific individuals, but against vices in general; he told how difficult it was to draw engravings without following either earlier models or nature and praised himself in every possible way. This collection is still one of the most phantasmagoric creations human mind. We are talking about Los Caprichos. Its author was the court artist of His Majesty Charles IV, King of Spain - Francisco Goya y Lucientes.

Goya released 300 copies of “Caprichos” - in total he had to print 24,000 engravings (not counting defects). One collection cost 320 reais (then the cost of 31 grams - or one ounce - of gold). Over four years, 27 copies of Caprichos were sold. As a result, the entire remaining circulation, along with the engraving boards, was bought by Charles IV.

Caprichos translates as whim, fantasy, play of the imagination. It is believed that the word comes from a verb denoting the jumping and galloping of young goats on the grass. Before Goya, this genre depicted mainly architectural fantasies, much less often - genre or grotesque scenes. Satirical phantasmagoria was, in fact, an invention of Goya.

It should be noted that in addition to the graphic fantasies of the Italians, “Caprichos” was significantly influenced by the English caricature of that time, of which Goya was a big fan.

But first of all, he was a big fan of himself. Therefore, the album begins with his self-portrait.

Caprice No. 1. Francisco Goya and Lucientes, artist

When Goya began work on the series, he was 51 years old (he was born on March 30, 1746). Francisco Goya was born in harsh Aragon, into a poor artisan family. At the age of 13, he began training as a painter with his father's friend, José Luzan. In 1766 (on the second attempt, he failed the first) he received a scholarship Art Academy for a trip to Italy. Returning, he worked in Zaragoza; he got married there; and thanks to a successful marriage (his brother-in-law, Francisco Bayeux, in 1767 became Goya's predecessor as chief court artist) - he moved to Madrid and became manager of the Royal Tapestry Manufactory. Thanks to his sociability, sense of humor and love of hunting, the young artist made the necessary contacts - and eventually gained considerable popularity in the upper echelons of Spanish society, and also replaced his retired relative in the highest position available to an artist in Spain. In addition, by this time he was the father of a significant number of children (from seven to twenty, of whom only one son survived) and was completely deaf.

Caprice No. 2. She says “Yes” and gives her hand to the first one she comes across.

Caprice No. 2. She says “Yes” and gives her hand to the first person she comes across.

This engraving depicts a slightly grotesque wedding - a girl in a mask, dressed in expensive, tailored clothes. latest fashion a dress, and a rather shabby, albeit pretentiously dressed, groom - there is a story and a prototype, albeit a literary one. Goya had a friend, Gaspar Jovellanos. And this Jovellanos was quite typical example a man of the Enlightenment: a little lawyer, a little economist, a little writer; admired the British social order; read Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu and Hobbes; imbued with the modern economic theories of the physiocrats and Adam Smith and, of course, shed tears over the fate of the heroines (or heroes) sentimental novels(sensitivity was in fashion then). Having read all this corrupting reading, he took a critical look at the surrounding reality and (of course) came to the conclusion that morals urgently need correction. The result of these thoughts was the poem “To Arnesto”. The poem condemned some not entirely flawless ways of making acquaintances for matrimonial purposes. For example, girls were accused of using cosmetics, hiding their age, demonstrating false modesty and other attractive character traits. The young people were accused of providing deliberately false information about their material well-being and social status. And in this poem there are approximately the following lines:

... Thoughtlessly trusting the groom,
Without appreciating its merits and vices
She said “yes” and gives her hand
To the one who first looked at her
An insidious, evil and lustful eye.

Now I think you understand why the bride is surrounded by those nasty, grinning, cheating faces. Although when the satisfied groom brings the aristocratic beauty to his slums, she will take off her mask... and the groom may also be slightly surprised and disappointed.

In those days, there was a lot of gossip and anecdotes circulating in Madrid about how temperamental gentlemen would let their lovers into their house at night under the guise of a ghost. The children, seeing this, went to bed in fright and were afraid to even stick their noses out from under the blanket. And the inventive mother ecstatically indulged in the joys of life and role-playing games. Notice the difference between the faces of the children and the woman. By the way, it’s not just a matter of facial expressions - the frightened faces of children - a sharp and harsh contrast between light and shadow; the woman's face is soft halftones. There is also another interpretation, reflected in a handwritten note to one of the copies of this engraving: “This is a terrible mistake in the initial education of children. The child fears ghosts more than his father and believes in things that do not exist.” But, looking at the facial expressions of the inventive signora, I am still inclined to the version with the lover.

Caprice No. 4. Sissy

Here, as they say, comments are unnecessary - the drawing and signature speak for themselves. And if you are surprised by the child’s costume, then it was customary to dress children under five years old in dresses, regardless of gender. You can only add an excerpt from the "Treasury of the Castilian or Spanish"Cavarrubius (1610): "... some boys, even when they are already big, do not know how to tear themselves away from their mothers' tits; Such people become fools and vicious villains.” The “boy” depicted in the engraving, judging by his face, is probably already growing a beard - I also know several of these thirty-to-forty year olds.

Caprice No. 5. One is worth the other

The most popular interpretation of this engraving is that it depicts Queen Marie Louise as a Madrid prostitute and her favorite Godoy as a client. This is unlikely to be the case. Firstly, Goya was neither an idiot nor an idealist out of touch with reality. He was a very practical man. It is unlikely that he would jeopardize his successful career for the dubious pleasure of laughing at employers and patrons. Secondly, his handwritten signature on the sketch reads: “The old women laugh heartily because they know that he doesn’t have a penny to his name.” And if in the image the woman was “taking pictures” of a young man in a suit “a la fashion” - in order to make him her gigolo - the old women would not have a reason to laugh. So this is most likely just a sketch of a comical (in the opinion of Goya and the contemporary public) scene. Not to mention the fact that historians still wonder whether Godoy really was Marie-Louise's lover. But more on that later.

In the second half of the 18th century, Europe (including Spain) was swept by the fashion for carnivals in the Venetian spirit - with masks and disguises. French philosopher and the sociologist Caillois believes that Carnival mask allows you to hide social role, inherent in a person, and be yourself for a while. Goya also uses masks not to hide the essence of a person, but to show it as clearly and brightly as possible - look at the characters in the background. The name says the rest: even if the girl on the right succumbs to temptation, no one will know about it.

Caprice No. 7. Even so he won't recognize her

A young fashionista, afrancezado (Frenchized - that is, dressed in French fashion), looks at a prostitute through a monocle. This scene is observed by a satisfied bawd. Here, perhaps, as an explanation, the inscription made by Goya on the sketch for the engraving is sufficient: “How can he recognize her? In order to understand its essence, a magnifying glass is not enough; it requires correct judgment and life experience - which the poor young caballero lacks...”

Caprice No. 8. And she was kidnapped

Caprice No. 8. And she was kidnapped...

This engraving illustrates Goya's peculiar sense of humor. The composition is typical for numerous images of the descent from the cross, which does not at all correspond to the content - the scene of the abduction of the girl. In Spain at that time, such kidnappings were not uncommon: forced marriages, kidnappings for ransom, rape... In in this case The monastic vestment of one of the kidnappers attracts attention. One of the comments on the image says it bluntly: “The clergyman, thirsty for illicit love, has found himself an assistant for a dirty deed.”

Caprice No. 9. Tantalum

Tantalus is famous for the punishment to which the Olympian gods subjected him. He stood up to his neck in water - but when he bent down to drink, the water moved away from him. There were ripe fruits hanging on a branch right above his head - but as soon as he reached for them, the branch moved away. The eye sees, but the tooth numbs. This, according to Goya, happens with elderly caballeros who marry young senoritas. So this engraving, depicting an elderly gentleman wringing his hands in suffering with a seductive, scantily clad and emotionless (this is because she had to forget about sensual pleasures) girl on his lap, is an allegorical image of impotence.

Caprice No. 10. Love and death

Here all interpreters agree on one thing: Forbidden love ends badly. In this case, a duel and the death of a lover.

Caprice No. 11. The guys are ready

Another engraving without any special hidden meanings. The only question that it raises is the question of who is depicted here: smugglers or robbers? Although robbers in those days did not disdain to trade in smuggling, and smugglers did not disdain robbery. In any case, it was clear to a contemporary what exactly these guys were ready to do to him when they met.

Caprice No. 12. Hunting for a tooth

This scene, in principle, does not need any comments. A girl tries to pull out a tooth from a hanged man - it’s not that simple! She needs him for witchcraft. A hanged man's tooth is a necessary ingredient in a love potion, for example.

Just greedy monks who didn’t wait for the soup to cool down. Quite harmless if you don’t know that one of the sketches for this engraving was called “A Dream about Some People Who Eat Us,” and on the servant’s tray there was a boiled human head.

Quite a typical situation. A young girl (apparently from a noble but struggling family) was sold in marriage to an old, ugly, rich dwarf (some suggest he was a Marrano: a Spanish or Portuguese Jew who converted - sincerely or not so much - to Christianity). The girl is not happy, but is ready to sacrifice herself for the well-being of the family. Mom and dad are happy with the successful deal. Only the duen covered her eyes with her hand - she couldn’t look at the lustful freak.

Caprice No. 15. Good advice.

On February 6, 1799, an impressive-sized advertisement appeared in one of the Madrid newspapers Diario de Madrid, announcing the release of a graphic series of 80 sheets. This was a real advertisement for the collection, in which the author explained for a long time that his satire was not directed against anyone in particular, but exposed the vices of society as a whole, and at the same time he did not forget to praise his skill as an engraver and the uniqueness of his creation. And, of course, he was absolutely right, because we were talking about one of the most mysterious and phantasmagoric works in the history of art - “Los Caprichos” (“Caprichos”). And its author was famous artist and engraver Francisco de Goya Lucientes.

Self-portrait

By the end of the 1780s, Francisco Goya was already a renowned painter whose services were extremely popular. He painted portraits of dukes and their wives, decorated palaces Spanish nobility- in general, Goya’s business flourished. In addition, taking advantage of the patronage of the Duchess of Alba, he received a position as a court artist in 1789 and made a considerable fortune working for the King of Spain, Charles IV himself. However, Goya's brilliant career did not last long, because by the end of 1792 he suffered from a serious illness, as a result of which the artist almost completely lost his hearing. But his other senses became significantly more acute. From that moment on, a completely different, darker and more complex period began in the master’s life and work. There were no longer light and cheerful tones in his creations, and there were no colorful secular subjects. Goya began to take a closer look at those around him and suddenly realized that the existing traditional way of Spanish society was ephemeral, and the entire external gloss of the Spanish court (and not only) hid its ugly essence under the mask of virtue. And from that moment on, his consciousness was increasingly absorbed by thoughts about the essence human nature, about human vices, about all those medieval prejudices that still flourished in Spain.

In 1793, Goya began making the first sketches for the series, planning to call it “Dreams of Reason” after the name of one of the drawings. Initially, the artist wanted to dedicate it to witchcraft and witches’ Sabbaths, but in the process of work, Goya abandoned this idea, giving his works a satirical and largely social character, although not without a touch of mysticism. The very name “Caprichos” is translated from Spanish approximately as whim, fantasy, play of the imagination. "Caprichos" were not just a set graphic images, united by one theme, they became a real symphony of Spanish folk art, socio-political cartoons French Revolution, medieval demonology and the Spanish golden age satirical tradition. In his engravings, Goya used images from Spanish folk proverbs, sayings and fables that were supposed to ridicule universal human vices and superstitions - hypocrisy, cowardice, pretense, cruelty, self-interest and others. He gave each of them short, satirical and sometimes even too rude names. Those titles that, in the author’s opinion, did not clearly express the essence of the image, were provided with explanatory comments.

“Now they sit correctly.”

The entire series was executed in an extremely gloomy tone, which fully corresponded to the artist’s painful state. He even placed his self-portrait on the first page, which conveyed the feeling of anxiety and deep suffering that Goya experienced at that time due to excruciating headaches and nightmares. And although the series was originally supposed to open with the most famous engraving from this series - “The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters”, yet Goya’s high-ranking friends dissuaded him from this, because the collection was already too provocative in nature. But it was this engraving that became the leitmotif of the entire series. “When the mind sleeps, fantasy in sleepy dreams gives birth to monsters, but in combination with reason, fantasy becomes the mother of art and all its wonderful creations,” Goya explained this etching with this explanation. It was reason combined with imagination, according to Goya, that was called upon to create beautiful creations art, while the sleep of this very mind was capable of producing something terrible, plunging a person into the bottomless abyss of the imagination. This is also where the ideas for all the other engravings in the series came from, because every vice, human weakness and other unpleasant aspects of human nature had their grotesque reflection in the etchings. And in the artist’s mind, they defeated the virtues. Revealing their essence only at night, they turned into witches, demons, brownies and other evil spirits, and during the day they became quite exemplary citizens.

"We come when the stars come out"

"Time to Wake Up"

In total, Goya released 300 sets of engravings, of which only 27 were sold. The rest, 4 days after going on sale, were confiscated by order of the Inquisition, which considered these caricatures blasphemous. And this is not surprising, because the church received the most ridicule in these caustic engravings. In addition, in order to make amends to Charles IV, Goya gave him a collection of reproductions of his works, as well as 80 of the same printing plates prepared for “Caprichos” and all their unsold copies along with handwritten sheets. After this, not a single one of Goya’s series was published during the master’s lifetime.

“If I knew why he died”

"The sleep of reason gives birth to monsters"

Thus, the famous artist and engraver of the Enlightenment era Francisco Goya, thanks to serious illness and personal psychological shocks, I was able to clearly see the picture of the world around me, where everyone hid their essence behind a mask. And seeing all this, he was able to universal language graphics to tell their truth in an unsurpassed, sharply satirical manner. And thus his “dreams of the mind” found their place in art.

Francisco Goya is known not only for his paintings, but also for his series of etchings.

However, during F. Goya's lifetime, his etchings were not widely known. The series “Disasters of War” and “Proverbs” were first published by the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid only 35 years after his death.

Etching(aquaforte) is a type of engraving on metal. For the manufacture of printed form The metal plate is coated with acid-resistant varnish, on which the design is scratched with special tools. The plate is then placed in acid, which etches away the metal in the areas exposed to the varnish. After etching, the remaining varnish is removed from the plate. Before printing, ink is applied to the plate, but smooth surface The printing plate is cleared of it, the ink is retained only in the etched recesses. When printing, this ink is transferred from the recesses to the paper. Etching is a type of intaglio printing.
Etching began to develop at the beginning of the 16th century. Many people worked in the etching technique famous artists: Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, Ivan Shishkin, Salvador Dali and others.
F. Goya is known for several series of etchings:

"Caprichos"(1797-1798). The 80 sheets in this series are a critique of the moral, political and spiritual foundations of Spain at that time. Most of the etchings in this series have author's comments.

"Tauromachy"(1815). 33 etchings in this series are dedicated to bullfighting.

"Disasters of War"(1810-1820). A series of 82 sheets was created during the period of the people's liberation wars against the Napoleonic invasion and the first Spanish revolution (1808-1814).

"Disparates" ("Whims" or "Stupidities")(1820-1823). The 22 sheets in this series are actually illustrations of parables and proverbs.

“Caprichos” (Spanish: Los Caprichos - quirks) (1797-1798)

This series of etchings is a caustic satire on political, social and religious orders, an unsurpassed example of a fantastically bold, uniquely sharp realistic grotesque. The images and situations depicted by Goya are incredible and monstrous, but with the most sophisticated inventions of his imagination, they reveal the essential features of the Spanish reality of that time. “Caprichos” are directed against the world of evil, violence, obscurantism, ignorance, stupidity of the aristocracy, hypocrisy and greed of the clergy, superstition and fanaticism of the masses. Most famous work series is “The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters.”

F Goya “The sleep of reason gives birth to monsters” (1797). Metal, etching, aquatint, drypoint. 21.5 × 15 cm. National Library Spain (Madrid)
The title and theme of the etching is the Spanish proverb El sueño de la razón produce monstruos (the sleep of reason gives birth to monsters).
Imagination abandoned by reason gives birth to unimaginable monsters; but in union with reason it is the mother of the arts and the source of the miracles it creates. The artist himself accompanied this etching with the comment: “When the mind sleeps, fantasy in sleepy dreams gives birth to monsters, but in combination with reason, fantasy becomes the mother of art and all its wonderful creations.” Imagination combined with reason produces not monsters, but wonderful works of art. And monsters, apparently, are generated not by imagination itself and not by reason itself, but precisely by the latter’s sleep.
The mind is capable of controlling a person’s obsessive fantasies. But if the mind is asleep, then there is no censorship of reason over feelings, and then the imagination wins, which can be inspired to a person by the alien and dangerous intervention of some outside forces, encroaching on human consciousness.
Currently, this proverb is perceived as a warning against committing rash actions.

F. Goya “What a tailor won’t do!”
Author's comment: It is not uncommon to see how a funny freak suddenly transforms into a pompous nonentity, empty, but very respectable in appearance! Truly great is the power of a clever tailor and equally great is the stupidity of those who judge by appearance.
A person can easily be deceived by the imaginary greatness of insignificance. You should not be too naive and believe everything that is imposed on you; you must be able to reason.

F. Goya "Mama's Boy"
Author's comment: Careless parenting, indulgence and pampering make children capricious, stubborn, arrogant, greedy, lazy and obnoxious. Growing up, they become undersized. That's how this mama's boy is.

F. Goya “Hunting for Teeth”
Author's comment: The teeth of a hanged man are a miraculous remedy for all kinds of witchcraft. You can't do anything worthwhile without them. It's a pity that the common people believe this nonsense.

"Tauromachy" (1815)

Goya always loved bullfighting; in one of his self-portraits (1790-1795) he even depicted himself as a bullfighter. Here are two sheets from this series:

Etching No. 18: Daring act Martincho at the Zaragoza Arena

Etching No. 5: The brave Moor Ghasoul was the first to fight bulls according to the rules

"Disasters of War" (1810-1820)

Art historians consider this series of etchings as a protest against the brutality of the suppression of the anti-French uprising, the subsequent war on the Iberian Peninsula and the reactionary policies of the restored Bourbon dynasty. War for Goya is the collapse of everything humane, reasonable, human, the triumph of disgusting bestial cruelty. But the main pathos of the series is Goya’s faith in the strength of the people defending their honor and freedom.

F. Goya “It is impossible to see it”
During the war between Napoleon's empire and Spain, Goya served as the first court painter and continued to paint portraits of Spanish and French nobles. The war was not indifferent to him, but for the time being he kept his feelings to himself. He began work on the series when he was already ill, almost deaf. But the series of etchings “Disasters of War” was published only 35 years after his death, when it became possible to criticize both the French and Spanish monarchs.
Goya showed the catastrophic impact of war on every individual.

F. Goya. Sheet No. 34: For a folding knife (A priest is tied to a pole with a cross in his hands. On his chest is a sign on which is written the crime for which he will be executed - carrying a knife)

The mental crisis Goya experienced in the late 1790s was aggravated by hearing loss as a result of a serious illness. The revealing power of his work is embodied in the famous graphic series “Caprichos” (1798), which included Goya among the largest masters of world graphic art. In the forms of tragic grotesque, he opposes the world of evil and obscurantism, fanaticism and ignorance of the masses, moral vices society. Echoes of political caricature of the French Revolution, popular Spanish popular print, demonology of the Middle Ages and satirical traditions are woven into the multi-layered string of “Caprichos”. spanish literature"golden age".

"Self-Portrait"

The fate of the “Caprichos” series is tragic, just as the fate of Goya himself is tragic.

The artist created the first sketches for this series in 1793. At this time, due to the illness, it is assumed that meningitis, Goya begins to lose his hearing. But it is hearing loss that makes it worse visual perception. He begins to feel the world around him more acutely and suddenly realizes that the people around him are not at all who they say they are.

Initially, Goya wanted to call his series “dreams” after the name of one of the drawings, and it was assumed that it would be dedicated to witchcraft and the Sabbath of witches - dreams. But as he works, he abandons this option, takes the name “Caprichos”, and the series takes on a completely different character - satirical and socially oriented, let’s say. In 1799, the series of 80 sheets was completed. As the researchers say, for the last two years of working on it, Goya practically broke himself, the disease progressed very much - he was constantly tormented by severe headaches. Physical and mental trauma forced me to be very stressed. But on February 19, 1799, the series was released. And four days later (during this time only 27 copies out of 240 were sold), by decision of the Inquisition it was withdrawn from sale. We know about the Inquisition from books and films. Goya lived at this time. And, of course, he could not openly show what he wanted. We can only guess about this based on some details.

Goya was forced to come to King Charles IV to apologize for allowing himself to release such a series. And as a gesture of reconciliation, he gives him a collection of 499 reproductions of his works, including 80 printing plates, as well as all unsold copies, along with handwritten pages. From this point on, during Goya’s lifetime, none of his series created subsequently saw the light of day.

The word Capriccio has two meanings. In the first version it is “an eccentric goat”, another translation sounds like “tousled hair”. As a result, if you put everything together and say it in Russian, you will get something like this: what you see will make your hair stand on end.

"They say yes and extend their hand to the first person they meet.
The ease with which many women agree to marriage
explained by the hope of living in it more freely than before."

"Buka is coming!"
A disastrous mistake in primary education: they induce fear in a child of the non-existent and make him fear beeches more than his father.

"Sissy"
Careless upbringing, indulgence and pampering make children capricious, stubborn, arrogant, greedy, lazy and obnoxious. Growing up, they become undersized. That's how this mama's boy is.

"Each one is worth the other"
There have been many debates about who is worse: men or women. The vices of both come from bad upbringing. The debauchery of men entails the debauchery of women. The young lady in this picture is as reckless as the dandy talking to her, and as for the two vile old women, they deserve each other.

"Nobody knows anyone"
Light is the same masquerade. His face, clothes and voice are all feigned. Everyone wants to appear to be something other than what they really are. Everyone deceives each other, and you don’t recognize anyone.

“He won’t even be able to see her anyway.”
How can he recognize her? To get to know her properly, a lorgnette is not enough. You need common sense and life experience, and this is what our poor thing lacks.

"She's been kidnapped!"
A woman who does not know how to look after herself finds herself at the mercy of the first person she meets. And when nothing can be done, she is surprised that she was kidnapped.

"Tantalum"
If he had been more courteous and less intrusive, she might have come to life.

"Love and death"
Here is a lover in the spirit of Calderon: unable to laugh at his rival, he dies in the arms of his beloved and loses her because of his own recklessness. You should not draw your sword too often.

"Let's get to it, guys"
Their faces and clothes speak for themselves.

"Teeth Hunt"
The teeth of a hanged man are a miraculous remedy for all witchcraft. You can't do anything worthwhile without them. It's a pity that the common people believe this nonsense.

"Hot"
They are in such a hurry to swallow that they swallow boiling water. Moderation and abstinence are also necessary in pleasures.

"What a sacrifice!"
As usual, the groom is not one of the most attractive, but he is rich, and at the price of the freedom of the unfortunate girl, the poor family buys prosperity. That is life.

"Good advice"
Advice is worthy of the one who gives it. The worst thing is that the senorita will follow them literally. Woe to anyone who approaches her!

"God will forgive. It was her mother"
The young lady left home as a child. She learned a trade in Cadiz and came to Madrid, where she was lucky. She goes to the Prado, and there a dirty and decrepit old woman asks her for alms. She drives her away, the old woman pesters. The dandy girl turns around and sees - just think! - that her mother is a beggar.

"It's well taut"
Oh, Auntie Curra is no fool. She knows very well how important it is to have well-stretched stockings.

"And his house is on fire"
Until the fire pumps refresh him, he can’t take off his pants and interrupt his conversation with the lamp. Such is the power of wine.

"Everyone will die"
Marvelous! The experience of the dead is of no use to those who are on the brink of death. There's nothing you can do about it. Everyone will die.

"Here they are plucked"

Since they have already been plucked, let them go, others will come in their place

"How they pluck her!"

And there are kites on tiptoe that will rip them down to a feather

It’s not for nothing that they say: as it comes around, so it will respond.

"Poor things!"

"From that dust..."

Ugliness! With such a decent woman who provided services to everyone for a pittance,

So diligent, so helpful - and get by like that! Ugliness!

"Nothing could be done about it"

This holy lady is being brutally persecuted. Having announced the story of her life, she is honored.
But if they do this to shame her, then they are wasting their time. It is impossible to shame someone who does not know shame.

“After all, he broke the jug. Which of them is worse?”

“They already have something to sit on.”
To bring frivolous girls to their senses, there is nothing more useful than putting chairs on their heads.

"Who is more loyal?"
Neither one nor the other. He is a helipad in love affairs, who says the same thing to all women, and she is busy thinking about how she can get rid of five dates that she scheduled between eight and nine, and now it’s already half past seven.

"Not a word to anyone"
An excellent mother for a delicate assignment.

"Why hide them?"
The answer is very simple: because he does not want to spend it, and he does not spend it because, although he is already 80 years old and has no more than a month to live, he is still afraid that he will not have enough money to live. The calculations of stinginess are so deceptive.

"She's praying for her"
And she does well: may God grant her good luck and deliver her from evil, from doctors - bloodletters and from alguacils, and may she become as dexterous, efficient and ready to please everyone as her late mother, the kingdom of heaven to her.

"Because she was too sensitive"
On life path there are ups and downs

"Count Palatine"

In all sciences there are charlatans who know everything without learning anything.

"They are overcome by sleep"

No need to wake them up. Perhaps this is the only consolation for the unfortunate

"She shaves it clean"
He is clean shaved and skinned. It’s his own fault for entrusting himself to such a barber.

"Bad Night"
This is how bad it is for the girls who are going out and can't stay at home.

“Isn’t the student smarter?”
It is not known whether he is smarter or dumber, but there is no doubt that it is impossible to find a more important, thoughtful person than this teacher

"Bravissimo!"
If it is enough to have long ears to understand, then a better connoisseur cannot be found; but no matter how he starts clapping for something that sounds really bad.

"Up to the third generation"
This poor animal was driven crazy by experts in heraldry and genealogy. It is not alone.

"What disease will he die from?"

The doctor is excellent, thoughtful, focused, unhurried, serious. What more could you want?

"Exactly the same"
He ordered his portrait - and did it well. Those who are not familiar with him and have not seen him will recognize everything from the portrait.

"You who can't bear it"

Isn’t it clear that these mounts are riding animals?
* The name of the etching is part of the saying: “You, who are unbearable, put me on your back.”

"The sleep of reason gives birth to monsters"

Imagination abandoned by reason gives birth to unimaginable monsters;
but in union with reason it is the mother of the arts and the source of the miracles it creates.

"They spin finely"

They spin finely and the devil himself will not unravel the threads that they prepare for these little ones

"There's a lot to suck"

It’s as if a person is born and lives in the world so that the juices can be drawn from him

"Severe reprimand"
Without reprimands and moralizing, one cannot succeed in any science, and witchcraft requires special talent, diligence, maturity, humility and obedience to the Great Witcher, who is in charge of the Barahona witchcraft seminary.

"Offering to the Teacher"
They do the right thing: they would be ungrateful students if they did not treat their mentor, to whom they owe all their devilish training.

"Informers"
Of all types of evil spirits, headphones are the most disgusting and at the same time the most ignorant in the art of witchcraft.

"Little Brownies"
But here is a completely different people. Cheerful, playful and helpful; a bit of a gourmand and keen on pranks; but still they are nice people.

He who hears nothing, and knows nothing, and does nothing,
belongs to a huge family of marmots that are good for nothing.

"Preening"

Having long claws is so reprehensible that even evil spirits are prohibited.

“What a tailor won’t do!”

It’s not uncommon to see how a funny freak suddenly transforms into a puffed-up nonentity, empty, but very respectable in appearance! Truly great is the power of a clever tailor and equally great is the stupidity of those who judge by appearance.

"What Chrysostom!"

When he speaks, he is a real Chrysostom, and when he writes out prescriptions, he is a real Herod.

"Bashful"

There are people whose most obscene part of the body is their face, and it would not be bad if
if the owners of such ill-fated faces, funny to them, hid them in their pants

"Until Death"

She preens herself - and very opportunely. Today is her birthday.
She is turning seventy-five years old. Her friends will come to her.

"Up and Down"

Fortune treats very poorly those who are obsequious to her.
She gives smoke to the one who climbs up with such difficulty, and then throws him down as punishment.

"Pedigree"

Here they try to seduce the groom by showing him by genealogy who her parents, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers are. And who is she herself? He will find out later.

"To hell with everything!"

Whoever begins to live among people cannot avoid the enema.
And if he doesn’t want this, he will have to retire to the forests and mountains.
And there he will still be convinced that life is a continuous enema.

"But they still don't leave!"

He who does not think about the vicissitudes of fate sleeps peacefully among dangers;
he does not know how to protect himself from the troubles that threaten him, and any misfortune takes him by surprise.

"First experiments"
Little by little he moves forward and is already taking his first steps, and over time he will know as much as his mentor.

"They took off"
This tangle of witches, which serves as a footstool for the dandy, is not needed at all by her, except perhaps for beauty. Others have so much flammable gas in their heads that they can fly into the air without the help of witches and without a balloon.

"Incredible!"
Two witches had a strong quarrel over which of them is stronger in the demonic business. It's hard to believe that Shaggy and Kudlataya are capable of such a brawl. Friendship is the daughter of virtue: villains can only be accomplices, not friends.

"What important people!"
In the picture there are two venerable and dignified witchers. They rode out on horseback to exercise.

"Bon Voyage"
Where is this hellish gang going, howling in the darkness of the night? In the light it would not be difficult to shoot all these evil spirits. However, they are not visible in the dark.

"Where is mummy going?"
My mother has dropsy and is prescribed exercise. God grant that she feels better.

“Come on, take it easy! There’s a witch riding a Lame Imp.”

"Wait, they'll butter you up"
He is sent on an important mission, and he is in a hurry to get on the road, although he has not yet had time to be properly greased. Among witchers there are also flighty, hasty, impatient madmen without a trace common sense. Anything happens everywhere.

"That's how it is, teacher"
For a witch, a broom is one of the most important weapons: in addition to the fact that witches are glorious sweepers, they are known to sometimes turn a broom into a riding mule, and then the devil himself will not catch up with them.

"Blows*
There must have been a big catch of babies last night. A noble feast is being prepared. Bon appetit!
* Literally - to blow, blow, figuratively - to convey.

"A Godly Profession"
- Do you swear to obey and honor your mentors and bosses, sweep attics, spin tow, beat the tambourine, squeal, howl, fly, cook, lubricate, suck, blow, fry - every time you are ordered? - I swear! - in that case, dear, you are already a witch. Good morning!

"When it's dawn, we'll leave"

And even if they didn’t come at all: no one needs you.

"You can't escape!"
Of course, the one who wants to be caught herself will not leave.

"It's better to sit back"
If those who work harder get fewer benefits, then, really, it’s better to sit back.

"Don't scream, fool!"

Poor Paquilla! She went to call the footman - and met the brownie. There is no need to be afraid: Martinico is in a good mood and will not harm her.

“Will no one untie us?”
What is this? A man and a woman tied with ropes are struggling to free themselves and screaming for someone to untie them quickly? If I'm not mistaken, these are victims of forced marriage.

"Do you understand? So that everything is my way, do you hear? Otherwise..."
This fool imagines that because he wears a cockade and a baton, he is by nature superior to others, and abuses the power entrusted to him to annoy everyone who has dealings with him. Vain, arrogant, insolent with those who are lower in position, he bends his back and grovels before those who are stronger than him.

"Friend to Friend"

That is life. People mock each other and torture each other, as if they were reenacting a bullfight.
The one who was in the place of a bull yesterday is a bullfighter today.
Fortune rules the fiesta and assigns roles according to her whim.

"Cum it quickly, they're already waking up"

Little brownies are the most helpful and homely people. If the maid knows how to respect them, then they skim off the foam, cook vegetables, wash the dishwasher, sweep and cradle the child. There was a lot of debate about whether they were devils. Let's dispel misconceptions. Devils are those who cause evil or prevent others from doing good, or who do nothing at all.

"No one saw us"
What's the harm if these little Martinico brownies go down to the cellar and drink a glass, since they worked all night and polished the tap of the barrel until it shined?

"It is time"

At dawn, witches, brownies, ghosts and ghosts scatter in different directions. It’s good that this tribe only appears at night and in the dark. Until now, no one has been able to find out where they hide during the day. Anyone who managed to capture a brownie's lair, put it in a cage and show it at ten o'clock in the morning on Puerta del Sol would not need any inheritance.

The title of the series comes from the Italian word “Capricci” – art that opens up new ways of perceiving the world. Goya created “Caprichos,” as they say, in one go, in just a year and a half, and at the very first publication he made people talk about him. Even if contemporaries did not always understand the artist, they could not help but note the novelty and unlikeness of Goya’s work from everything they had seen before. Goya himself called the series “A Suite of Etchings on Bizarre Subjects,” drawing analogies with musical form. He chose the story of his happy and happy life as the leading theme and leitmotif of the suite. tragic love to Duchess Cayetana Alba. Never before has an artist's personal drama become the content of his art. The artist was a craftsman, his work was determined by the tastes of the customer, and only romantics turned creativity into an expression of the author’s emotional and spiritual experiences. This was first done in music by L. Beethoven, in fine arts- Goya.

The second thing that amazes us in “Caprichos” is the desperate courage of the artist. Goya angrily and sarcastically ridiculed Spain: vices ordinary people, hypocrisy of the nobility, court circles, the ruling couple, the church, the Inquisition. Goya's courage would border on madness if he did not understand that he artistic techniques too new to be properly understood by everyone. And most importantly, by talking about his unhappy love and his unhappy homeland, Goya rose to more high level perception of the world. In "Caprichos" for the first time in European art it was said about the defenselessness of man in his relation to fate. Never has an artist been so pessimistic, never felt so acutely that he is a helpless toy. dark forces of the universe, like Goya in “Caprichos”.