A charlatan extracting a tooth from a patient’s mouth, figure in the foreground vomiting; folio 68 (verso) from the Madrid Album ‘B’

Description

A Charlatan Extracting a Tooth shows a supposed practitioner treating a patient while an ill figure vomits in the foreground. Goya brings supposed treatment and visible suffering into a single encounter, making the promise of help difficult to separate from harm. The competing actions give the scene a pointed, uncomfortable humor rather than the reassurance of competent care.

The drawing belongs to the Madrid Album and combines brushwork with altered passages in carbon-black wash. Its compact arrangement allows a practical activity to become a searching observation of human vulnerability. The image’s force rests in the distance between the practitioner’s apparent purpose and the discomfort before the viewer, asking how easily authority can be claimed when the person receiving help has little power to judge its quality.

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