The Blind Guitarist (El ciego de la guitarra), 18th century
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)
Etching; working proof; Overall: 15 9/16 x 22 7/16 in. (39.5 x 57 cm); image: 13 3/4 x 21 1/8 in. (34.9 x 53.7 cm)
Purchase, Rogers Fund and Jacob H. Schiff Bequest, 1922 (22.63.29)
Technical Glossary
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)
Etching; working proof; Overall: 15 9/16 x 22 7/16 in. (39.5 x 57 cm); image: 13 3/4 x 21 1/8 in. (34.9 x 53.7 cm)
Purchase, Rogers Fund and Jacob H. Schiff Bequest, 1922 (22.63.29)
Goya submitted a cartoon for this subject to the Royal Tapestry Factory in the spring of 1778, but the design evidently proved too difficult for the weavers and alterations had to be made. Perhaps to preserve and publicize his original composition, which was intended to introduce a series of scenes of the annual fair at Madrid, Goya etched this version of the nearly eight-by-ten-foot painting, now preserved in the Prado, Madrid. Individuals from all walks of life are much more fully characterized and animated in the work on paper—the largest of Goya's etchings.
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