Plate 42 from "Los Caprichos": Thou who canst not (Tu que no puedes)
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
1799 · Etching, burnished aquatint · Drawings and Prints
This plate is captioned with the first part of a Spanish proverb, "Thou who canst not / carry me on your back," represented by two men, each struggling under the weight of a content donkey. Their footwear identifies the men as peasants or laborers. The print has been interpreted as a satire on the uselessness of the nobility and the clergy, whose upkeep had become a financial burden for the impoverished working population. In other prints from the Caprichos, the ass appears as a device to ridicule ignorance in professions such as medicine, education, and the law.
- Artist
- Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
- Date
- 1799
- Medium
- Etching, burnished aquatint
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Gift of M. Knoedler & Co., 1918
