Bravo!, plate 38 from Los Caprichos

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Francisco de Goya wrote acidic commentary to accompany each print in his series The Caprices . For Bravo! he noted, “If ears were all that were needed to appreciate it, no one could listen more intelligently.” Some critical readings of this work interpret it as a commentary on Manuel de Godoy’s parties thrown for King Charles IV. Godoy came to Charles’s palace in Madrid as a musician and left it as prime minister; his meteoric rise is often attributed to a liaison with Queen Maria Louisa. Bravo! suggests the king was oblivious to this relationship to the point of not recognizing what was in front of him.

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