Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"

Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

As with several drawings from Album B, the same figure appears on both sides of this sheet. On the front, a young woman with a joyful expression pulls water from a well while her companions in the background wash laundry. On the other side, the same woman gazes sadly into the well. The two scenes—of first happiness, then disillusionment—might relate to a popular Spanish saying: 'mi gozo en un pozo' (my joy in a well).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"Three women, one in the foreground drawing water from a well, two in the background washing; folio 45 (recto) from the Madrid Album "B"

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.