A partly naked woman seated by a stream; page 32 from the 'Images of Spain' album (F)

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

ca. 1812–20 · Brush, bistre and wash, traces of red chalk, on laid paper · Drawings and Prints

The challenge of discerning the meaning of certain Goya works is exemplified by this drawing. The image’s correspondence with the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders, in which two old men spied upon a woman bathing, has long been noted. It has also been suggested that the drawing shows an illicit encounter between two lovers in the woods outside Madrid. More recently it was hypothesized that it represents summer. These interpretations are not without problems. It is more likely that Goya was experimenting with the fundamentals of a story like Susanna and the Elders, resulting in an image without a precise subject.

Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Date

ca. 1812–20

Medium

Brush, bistre and wash, traces of red chalk, on laid paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935