FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (1746-1828)
Ruega por ella, Plate 31 from: Los Caprichos
etching with burnished aquatint, drypoint and engraving, circa 1798-99, on laid paper, without watermark, a very good impression from the First Edition, published by the artist, Madrid, 1799, some wear starting to show in the background, but the drypoint on the young woman’s bodice and sleeve with touches of burr, only present in early impressions
Plate 203 x 149 mm.
Sheet 298 x 203 mm.

Presumably Manuel Fernández Durán y Pando, Marqués de Perales del Río (1818-1886), Madrid.
Don Pedro Fernández-Durán (1846-1930), Madrid; with his stamp (Lugt 747b); presumably by descent from the above.
Don Tomas de la Maza y Saavedra (1896-1975); gift from the above.
With Herman Shickman Fine Arts, New York.
With Stuart Denenberg, Los Angeles.
Private American Collection; acquired from the above.

Delteil 68; Harris 66

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Lot Essay

Prado manuscript: ‘And she does well to do so in order that God may accord her fortune and liberate her from the evil of both surgeons and policemen and also to make her as agile and lively as her mother who is in heaven.’

'The Prado text together with the printed title of this work would have the young lady praying for her mother ‘who is in heaven.’ The Ayala text of 1799-1803 would have the figure in the background to the right being the young lady's very much alive mother: ‘A mother, who has become procuress for her own daughter, prays that God give the daughter good fortune but will also keep her away from the dangers of surgeons and constables’. The procuress (or mother) holds a rosary and presumably is praying that God give her pupil ‘luck’…so that she may become as smart and successful as her own mother.'

Cited in: R. S. Johnson, Francisco Goya, Los Caprichos, R.S. Johnson Fine Art, Chicago, 1992, p. 88.