Plate 56 from ‘Los Caprichos’:To rise and to fall (Subir y bajar.)

Description

A demonic creature lifts a man above other falling figures in To Rise and to Fall. The upward movement depends on an uncanny bearer, while the bodies below make elevation seem inseparable from the possibility of collapse. Goya gives ambition a fantastic physical setting in which being raised does not guarantee safety or control.

Plate 56 of Los Caprichos uses etching and burnished aquatint to make the strange gathering tangible through line and broad tone. Its interest lies in the relationship between height and dependence, where a person’s apparent success may rest on a force he cannot command. The work remains pointed through that instability, allowing a spectacular ascent to become a warning about the conditions that can also bring someone down.

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