Three acrobats; page 67 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The elegance and freedom expressed in this drawing reveal Goya’s mastery of depicting the human form in countless poses. He first laid down light chalk marks, barely visible, as a guide to positioning the figures. The three acrobats adopt distinct poses, each involving a drinking vessel. Drinking was a subject Goya explored repeatedly, usually to convey the danger or the effects of inebriation. In the present sheet, we cannot tell if the acrobats are imbibing alcohol or if the cups are merely part of their act.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art