El Si Pronuncian Y La Mano Alargan Al Primero Que Llega (They Say "Yes" and Give Their Hand To The First Who Comes)

Datelate 18th-early 19th century

Maker Francisco José Goya y Lucientes Spanish, 1746-1828

Label TextWelcome to the eerie and enigmatic world of Los Caprichos! In this astonishing series of prints, Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) takes aim at Spanish society at the close of the 18th century. This was an era marked by numerous social upheavals: the fiscal crises wrought by war and taxation, the shifting power dynamics of the ruling classes, the draconian fanaticism of the Spanish Inquisition, and the turning point in European thought known as the Enlightenment. In sardonic and often surrealistic vignettes, the Los Caprichos series lays bare the outmoded belief systems, irrelevant superstitions, ignorance, decadence, and hypocrisy of the status quo, and it champions reason, justice, social reform, and intellectual freedom. Accompanying texts added by Goya hint at the meaning of each image, which is often obscure to us. Because the series follows no sequential narrative, its stories are open to many interpretations. In this print, Goya comments on the practice among the leisured classes of marrying for reasons other than love. A masked bride strides confidently toward the altar, her much older, expensively clad groom in tow. A second mask, at the back of her head, emphasizes the deception of her contrived union, and the mask-like features of the surrounding figures suggest their collusion. The caption comes from two lines of a poem titled A Arnesto (To Arnesto) by the Enlightenment author Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744–1811), which critiques women who marry to gain freedom from their families.

Object number44.530

Exhibition HistorySeattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, SAM on Paper: Francisco de Goya’s Los Caprichos, October 3, 2025 - March 29, 2026.

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

MediumEtching, aquatint