Cecilio Pla Leafing Through a Book of the Caprichos with his Pupils
Ca. 1908. Gelatin / Collodion on photographic paper.Not on display
Cecilio Pla, wearing a work coat and a cap, is depicted seated on a friar chair, holding a book of Goya’s Caprichos in his hands. Around him, several of his pupils are looking at the book he is leafing through, while others are looking at the viewer. Recognisable among the pupils is Gabriel Morcillo, standing second from the left. The scene takes place in the painter’s studio, where some of the casts can be seen on the walls, as well as an easel with canvas behind the figures.
The studio in which the master, pupils and model are photographed could be the one on Calle San Bernardo or the one on Calle Carranza.
Pla’s deep admiration for the work of the Aragonese artist is well-known, of whom he declared: ‘It can be said that his technique or execution distinguishes him among the great masters for not in fact having any particular one’, and ‘In the etchings he published, he demonstrated an extraordinary mastery of the process’. As a member of the Círculo de Bellas Artes and a connoisseur of Francisco de Goya’s work, he must have celebrated the arrival of the Tauromaquia (Bullfighting) series of prints at the institution. He also signed up to receive a copy of the edition of these prints that would be made shortly afterwards.
The Museo del Prado keeps a copy of the first edition of the book of the Caprichos (G002089 –G200168), similar to the one shown in the photograph. Specifically, the print shown in the image corresponds to Capricho 1: Self-Portrait. Francisco Goya y Lucientes, painter (G002089). It is a photographic postcard.
Sánchez Torija, Beatriz, Cecilio Pla y su relación con la fotografía.. Boletín del Museo del Prado, 2019-2021, p.167-179, f.7
