Plate 41 from ‘Los Caprichos’: Neither more nor less (Ni mas ni menos.)

Description

In Neither more nor less, a monkey paints the portrait of a donkey, making the exchange between artist and sitter a pointedly absurd performance. Francisco Goya’s Neither More Nor Less brings the outward apparatus of portraiture into the animal world. The scene invites comparison between the subject and the image being produced, raising a question about likeness, flattery and professional judgment.

Plate 41 of Los Caprichos, published in 1799, uses etching and burnished aquatint to give the improbable studio encounter a convincing material presence. Goya’s satire allows vanity and the business of representation to reinforce one another. The sitter receives an image, but that does not make the transaction truthful. Its wit lies in the shared investment of painter and subject, where the appearance of artistic activity can serve a desire to be seen more favorably than reality permits.

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