Plate 19 from ‘ Los Caprichos’: All will fall (Todos Caerán)

Description

In All will fall, birds with human heads descend into a world where women pluck the fallen creatures, turning attraction into a trap. Francisco Goya’s All Will Fall makes the promise of a universal downfall part of the scene’s dark comedy. Flight and capture coexist, giving the airy movement above an ominous counterpart below.

Published in 1799 as plate 19 of Los Caprichos, the etching and burnished aquatint join fantastic anatomy to recognizable patterns of desire and exploitation. Goya lets the birdlike figures appear both ridiculous and vulnerable. The title extends their fate beyond the individual victims, suggesting a cycle that will continue as others are drawn in. The image’s force comes from that repetition, where hope of pleasure leads toward an encounter already organized for someone else’s advantage.

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