'Nightmare'; an old woman carrying figures on her back; page 20 from the Witches and Old Women Album (D)
In this drawing, Goya crossed out the original caption "visión" and replaced it with "pesadilla" (nightmare), possibly as a pun on the origins of the term pesadilla in pesada, meaning the act of weighing. The revised caption might reference the heavy burden of the grinning old woman, who carries on her back two emaciated men in varying states of undress. Alternatively, the caption might suggest two further meanings of pesada, now obsolete: the oppression of the heart and difficulty in breathing during sleep, and an anguishing, persistent dream. Perhaps it is simply meant to echo the uneasiness of the vision.
Artwork Details
- Title: 'Nightmare'; an old woman carrying figures on her back; page 20 from the Witches and Old Women Album (D)
- Artist: Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, Fuendetodos 1746–1828 Bordeaux)
- Date: ca. 1819–23
- Medium: Brush, carbon black and gray ink and wash, touches of black chalk, on laid paper
- Dimensions: sheet: 9 3/16 x 5 11/16 in. (23.4 x 14.4 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1919
- Object Number: 19.27
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
1799, posthumous impression
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
ca. 1815–19 (published 1864)
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
ca. 1815–19 (published 1864)
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
ca. 1815–19 (published 1864)
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
ca. 1815–19 (published 1864)
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