Plate 61 from ‘Los Caprichos’: They have flown (Volaverunt.)

Description

In They have flown, a woman rises into an improbable aerial space, her floating presence making fashionable elegance seem suddenly fantastic. Francisco Goya’s They Have Flown transforms the idea of social elevation into something physically unstable. The scene’s airborne movement complicates the woman’s composure, suggesting that apparent freedom may depend on forces she does not control.

Published in 1799 as plate 61 of Los Caprichos, the etching and aquatint combine a recognizable human figure with the series’ unsettling world of flight and supernatural assistance. The title names the departure without explaining its destination. Goya lets graceful appearance and irrational movement coexist, leaving room for several readings of ambition and dependence. The image remains memorable through that suspension, where the promise of rising above ordinary life carries the possibility of becoming unmoored from it.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Goya collection.