Caprichos: Those Specks of Dust (Aquellos polbos)
1799
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
Not on View

This image is one of two from "Los Caprichos" that deal directly with the Inquisition. In this work, Goya boldly attacks the arbitrary justice of the Inquisition by depicting the plight of a known personality of the day. The prisoner on trial here is Perico, a disabled woman who was arrested for selling love potions. She appears in front of a mob of officials robed in the typical penitential uniform called "San Benito." She sits hunched over, as if condemned in advance. Goya remarked: "Badly done! To treat an honorable woman in this way, a woman who for nothing served everyone so well and so usefully. Badly done!"

Details

  • Artist Name: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
  • Title: Caprichos: Those Specks of Dust (Aquellos polbos)
  • Date: 1799
  • Medium: Etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, and burin with watercolor additions on laid paper
  • Edition: 1st edition
  • Dimensions: sheet: 11 5/16 x 8 1/16 in. (28.73 x 20.48 cm); plate: 8 7/16 x 5 7/8 in. (21.43 x 14.92 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1969.04.23.G
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

(Sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 7 May 1969, lot 67, to);
[Robert M. Light, Boston, sold 20 May 1969, to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.

The Graphic Art of Francisco Goya from the Norton Simon Foundation, Norton Simon, Inc., Museum of Art, and Pomona College Collections

  • Lang Art Gallery, 1975-02-08 to
  • Montgomery Art Center, to 1975-03-21

Investigating Goya's Etchings: Selections from Goya's Los Caprichos

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2000-03-24 to 2000-07-31

Francisco de Goya's 'Los Caprichos'

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1987-02-19 to 1987-07-19
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 627 p. 320
  • Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Goya in the Norton Simon Museum, 2016, cat. 41 p. 263
  • Helmut C. Jacobs and Nina Preyer, Los Caprichos de Goya en grabados coloreados del siglo XIX, 2023, NS-C.23 pp. 213-220, p. 215 (ill.)

Additional Artwork by Artist

Copies after Velázquez: Isabel de Borbón Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 1778-79
Copies after Velázquez: Un infante de España (Infante Don Fernando) Francisco de Goya y Lucientes c. 1778-79
Desastres de la Guerra Francisco de Goya y Lucientes c. 1810-15

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