Online: Francisco Goya: The Caprichos Etchings and Aquatints

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Francisco Goya used the privilege provided him as portraitist of the monarchy and aristocracy to create a series of etchings critiquing Spanish life at the end of the eighteenth century. With them, Goya took aim at what he saw as backward thinking: a church that hunted heretics, peasant superstitions, and the upper class’s brutal treatment of the poor. Goya is considered the first Modern artists, for his innovative painting techniques and social commentary.

Francisco Goya y Lucientes, (Spanish, 1746–1828), El Sueño de la Razon Produce Monstruos [Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters], 1799, Etching and aquatint, 8 3/4 x 5 15/16 in.