Nohubo Remedio by Francisco Goya

(There was No Help)

c. 1799

H. 59; D. 61

8 5/8" x 6 1/16"

Etching and aquatint on wove paper. Plate 24 from "Los Caprichos" (The Caprices). From the fourth edition after bevelled plate. Printed in dark umber ink. Edition size limited to 65. Impressions were made in the Calcografia for the Real Academia around 1878.

Los Caprichos, collection of eighty prints, took Francisco Goya from a reproductive etcher and court painter to the father of modern art. Goya began sketching Los Caprichos shortly after an illness that began in 1792 and that left him deaf five years later. His physical weakness brought on a burst of artistic creativity, "to occupy an imagination mortified by the contemplation of my suffering. "This resulted in eighty prints critiquing the social culture of Spain in the eighteenth century. Goya was lucky to be protected by King Carlos the IV because without this protection he would have faced the wrath of the nobility and the Church, which was busily carrying out the Inquisition.

Goya was the first and greatest satirist, calling attention to all seven of the deadly sins and how they were alive and active in Spain. He drew donkeys acting like counts and kings and showed that men were no better than the goblins that they so feared. Goya produced a metaphorical mirror through his art for Spain to look in, and eighteenth-century Spain did not always lie what she saw.

Shortly after Los Caprichos was published, a commentary on the prints was produced and sent to neighboring villages of Madrid. This commentary allowed those who did not have access to the prints themselves to gain an understanding of the controversy surrounding Goya's work. Today, art historians have compiled surviving pieces of the commentary into what is now referred to as the "Prado manuscript". The Prado manuscript offers insight as to Goya's thoughts when creating Los Caprichos. From the Prado manuscript, the commentary describes plate 24 as "They are persecuting this saintly woman to death! After having signed her death sentence, they take her out in Triumph! She has indeed deserved a triumph and if they do it to insult her, they are wasting their time. no one can shame someone who has nothing to be ashamed of."

Los Caprichos was first published in 1799. Approximately 300 sets were printed of which 30 sets were given to Goya. Los Caprichos has the distinction of being the only edition to printed during Goya's lifetime.

No drawing known.

The copper plate is in the Calcografia.

Contact Greg's Gallery at gregsgalleryoffineart@outlook.com for more information and pricing.