'God save us from such a bitter fate'; a bandit threatening a woman and a child with a knife: page 41 from the Black Border Album (E)

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

ca. 1816–20 · Brush, carbon black gray ink and was, scraper on laid paper · Drawings and Prints

Nowhere is Goya’s regard for drawings as finished artworks more evident than in the present sheet. Technical variety and a carefully orchestrated composition combine to produce one of his most striking images. Banditry was common in Spain during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when vast expanses of sparsely populated land provided refuge and cover for nefarious activities. Beneath an entrance to a cave or a dark sky, a man leads an elegantly dressed young woman and her child to a fate the viewer is left to imagine. Her stooped posture and downcast features express despondency and resignation. The abductor also conveys a sense of unease through his expression, the awkward angle at which he stands, and the dagger held high, exaggerating its efficacy.

Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Date

ca. 1816–20

Medium

Brush, carbon black gray ink and was, scraper on laid paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935