Francisco Goya

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Francisco Goya
1746-1828
A Malefic Prophet
ca. 1824-1828
Black chalk on laid paper.
7 1/2 x 6 1/16 inches (191 x 153 mm)
Gift of Gertrude Weyhe Dennis in honor of Felice Stampfle on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Morgan Library and the 50th anniversary of the Association of Fellows.
1999.19
Notes: 

Folio 26 from Album H (the Bordeaux Album).
Goya's final two albums, G and H, were produced during his self-imposed exile to France. Depicting subjects that he witnessed on the streets of Paris and Bordeaux, these drawings are executed in black crayon rather than the black wash used in his previous six albums. In this notably wordless image, a figure cloaked in vaguely clerical garb sits on a rock, absorbed in his writing. His ominous presence, accentuated by the shadowy background, implies a satire on the Church. In a reversal of Christian tradition by which the word of God was communicated through writing, here the malefic figure appears to be transmitting diabolical knowledge. --Exhibition Label, from "Visions and Nightmares: Four Centuries of Spanish Drawings"

Inscription: 

Numbered by the artist at upper right, "26".

Provenance: 
Erhard Weyhe; by descent to Gertrude Weyhe Dennis, New York.
Associated names: 

Weyhe, Erhard, former owner.
Dennis, Gertrude W., former owner.

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