Plate 15: Pretty Advice (Bellos Consejos), from "Los Caprichos"

Two of Goya’s most instantly recognizable types appear in this scene, in which a young maja, her eyes downcast, holds an open fan and attentively listens to an elderly, veiled woman, probably a bawd, or madam. The details make clear that the elder is instructing her junior how to attract attention or entice a wealthy suitor. Nineteenth-century writers referred to the questionable nature of the bawd’s teachings and proposed that the two might be mother and daughter, suggesting that Goya was criticizing mercenary women for corrupting their own children. Goya’s working methods are revealed in this proof impression, as he retouched the print with ink around the younger woman’s eyes before reworking the copperplate.