Plate 3 from ‘Los Caprichos’: Here comes the bogey-man (Que viene el Coco)

Description

In Here comes the bogey-man, a mother draws her children toward her as a cloaked figure approaches, its concealed face making it an unsettling presence. Francisco Goya’s Here Comes the Bogey-man explores how fear can enter a familiar domestic relationship. The children seek protection, while the mysterious visitor gives an imagined threat a tangible body.

Plate 3 of Los Caprichos, published in 1799, turns the use of frightening stories in childhood into a subject for social reflection. Etched outlines and burnished aquatint make the pale family distinct against the stranger’s heavier form. The scene’s unease comes partly from the authority of the adult world: fear is transmitted as well as experienced. Goya makes that process visible through proximity and gesture, allowing an apparently ordinary encounter to expose the power of superstition.

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