‘In the so-called asnerías subgroup within the Caprichos series, featuring donkeys in authoritarian roles, Goya delivers pointed commentary on the state of pedagogy. As in English, the Spanish word asnería, ‘ass’, connotes stupidity and stubbornness. The title of the plate, What if the Pupil Knows More?, implies that the teacher knows nothing more than his pupils, barnyard animals all. The teacher points to the letter ‘A’, perhaps an onomatopoeic allusion the only thing a donkey can teach – the ability to bray – or a cryptic reference to the word asnería. Goya might also be underscoring the incompetence of the instructor, stuck at the first letter of the alphabet. The title of this image is just as ambiguous: read as Does the student indeed know more than the teacher? it could refer to the breakdown of education. If understood as Will the student ever know more? it even more explicitly questions whether a pupil can make any progress when his teacher is literally an ass.’

Stepanek, S.L., Tomlinson, J., Wilson-Bareau, J., Mena Marqués, M.B., et al, Goya: Order & Disorder, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2014, p. 112.