Plate 22 from "Los Caprichos": Poor little girls! (Pobrecitas!)

Art Historical Context

In Francisco de Goya's *Los Caprichos*, Plate 22, titled *Poor little girls! (Precitas!)* (1799), captures a poignant moment of societal folly and human vulnerability. Created amid Spain's Enlightenment-era tensions and Goya's growing disillusionment with corruption, superstition, and moral decay, this print depicts two young girls in the company of an older man evoking sympathy for their innocence amid implied exploitation—likely a critique of prostitution and the plight of the impoverished underclass. The bilingual title underscores Goya's satirical bite, blending pathos with condemnation of adult vices preying on the young. Goya's mastery shines in the etching combined with burnished aquatint, a technique that yields velvety blacks and subtle tonal gradations for dramatic, shadowy effects far beyond traditional line work. This innovative printmaking approach allowed mass dissemination of his bold social commentary, challenging viewers to confront uncomfortable truths. Measuring just 8 7/16 x 5 7/8 inches on the plate, its intimate scale draws the eye into the emotional tension between the figures. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of M. Knoedler & Co., 1918), this work exemplifies Goya's shift toward Romanticism and proto-modernism, influencing later artists with its unflinching realism and psychological depth. A stark reminder of timeless issues like gender and class inequality, it invites reflection on how far—or little—society has progressed.

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 ...