Art Institute of Chicago

Heavier than a Dead Donkey, plate 1 from Los Proverbios

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)

Date

1815–17, published 1864

Medium

Etching and aquatint, with scratches, in brown on ivory wove paper

Culture

Spain

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Four decades after the artist’s death, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts acquired 18 intaglio plates from an unfinished series by Goya. In an attempt to ascribe a theme to their enigmatic imagery, the prints were published with the title Los Proverbios (Proverbs). A handful of early trial proofs were later discovered on which the artist had inscribed Disparate , which roughly translates as folly, nonsense, absurdity, or fantasy. In this print, a group of women use a blanket to toss straw or rag dolls in the air. Hidden in the blanket are a muscular figure and a donkey. Inscriptions on proof print read, “The game is played with asses,” perhaps referring to the gullibility of those who fall for female trickery.

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