A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)

A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Demonstrating the thematic connections among Goya’s projects during the 1810s, this drawing has much in common with plate 79 from The Disasters of War (see 22.60.25(79)). In the print the radiant woman is on the ground, whereas in this drawing she stands with her hands over her heart and is beset by a group of men in dark clothing, including a priest identifiable by his hat. Interpretations of the drawing include references to true religion or to Spain’s 1812 constitution as triumphant but threatened by the forces of evil.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)A radiant female figure beset by dark spirits; page 45 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.