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Might not the pupil know more?

Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de

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Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de

Fuendetodos, Zaragoza (Spain), 1746 - Bordeaux (France), 1828

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Might not the pupil know more?

Ca. 1797. Red chalk on silk paper Not on display

The donkey is symbolic of ignorance. Goya here denounces miseducation through his criticism of a teaching system predicated on the incompetence of the teachers and the ineptitude of the students. The teacher shows the young asses an image with a compass and a ruler, which in the print has been made into an alphabet showing the letter A several times, which when read aloud would sound like a donkey braying. Contemporary commentators clearly understood this work as a criticism of the education system: A dumb ass teacher will only produce dumb ass students.

Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Santander, Fundación Botín,, 2017, p.82 n.39; 179 n.39

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Si sabrá mas el discipulo?

Etching on ivory laid paper, 1797 - 1799

Inventory number: D004238
Author: Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de
Title: Might not the pupil know more?
Date: Ca. 1797
Technique: Red chalk
Support: Silk paper
Dimension: Height: 203 mm.; Width: 132 mm.; Alto segundo soporte: 203 mm.; Ancho segundo soporte: 132 mm.
Series: Caprichos [dibujo], 37

Bibliography +

Gassier, Pierre, Vie et oeuvre de Francisco de Goya: l' oeuvre complet illustré: peintures, dessins, gravures, Office du Livre, Fribourg, 1970, pp. nº 523.

Gassier, Pierre, Dibujos de Goya. Estudios para Grabados y Pinturas, II, Noguer, Barcelona, 1975, pp. 132.

Glendinning, Nigel, Goya, la década de los Caprichos : retratos 1792-1804, Real Academia Bellas Artes San Fernando, Madrid, 1992, pp. 217.

Mena Marqués, Manuela B., El "cuaderno italiano", 1770-1786: los orígenes del arte de Goya, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1994.

Blas, Javier, El Libro de los Caprichos: dos siglos de interpretaciones 1799-1999. Catálogo de los dibujos, pruebas de estado, láminas de cobre y estampas de la primera edición, Museo Nacional de Prado, Madrid, 1999, pp. 213.

Veiga, Margarida, Os Caprichos de Goya.Desenhos e Gravuras Do Museu Do Prado e..., Fundaçao Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisboa, 2001, pp. 108-111.

Matilla, José Manuel, Estampas españolas de la Guerra de la Independencia: propaganda, conmemoración y testimonio, Universidad de Salamanca, 2008.

Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Fundación Botín,, Santander, 2017, pp. 82 n.39; 179 n.39.