Plate 16 from "Los Caprichos": For heaven's sake: and it was her mother (Dios la Perdone: Y era su madre)

Art Historical Context

In Francisco de Goya's groundbreaking series *Los Caprich* (1799), Plate 16—titled *Dios la Perdone: era su madre* (" heaven's sake: and it was her mother")delivers a shocking critique of moral corruption in late 18th-century Spain. etching captures a grim domestic scene involving a mother and young girl, evoking themes of exploitation and familial betrayal, as hinted by the tags "Girls" and "M." Goya, a master of satire during the Enlightenment era, used these 80 prints to expose societal vices like prostitution, superstition, and hypocrisy, often targeting the clergy and aristocracy. Published amid Spain's fading Inquisition and political turmoil, the series was both a commercial venture and a bold artistic statement, with Goya reportedly withdrawing it due to controversy. Goya's innovative printmaking techniques shine here: etching for precise lines, burnished aquatint for velvety tonal depths mimicking painting, and drypoint for expressive burrs that add emotional intensity. Measuring just 7 3/4 × 5 7/8 inches on the plate, its intimate scale draws viewers into the darkness, blending Rococo elegance with emerging Romanticism's raw humanity. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Gift of M. Knoedler & Co., 1918), this work remains a powerful testament to Goya's genius in using prints to provoke thought and reform.

About the Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) · 1746–1828

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker considered the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Rising from modest provincial origins to become First Court Painter to Charles IV, Goya's career spanned the Enlightenment's optimism and the brutal Napoleonic invasion that shattered it. A mysterious illness in 1793 left him permanently deaf and ...