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Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Out Hunting for Teeth, plate twelve from Los Caprichos

1797/99
Etching, burnished aquatint and burin on ivory laid paper
18.4 × 11.9 cm (7.2 × 4.7 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Goya produced his Caprices , a series of 88 prints, between 1797 and 1799. Here, he satirizes love’s ability to drive a person to foolishness. A terrorized young woman stands on her toes on a ledge. With one hand she shields herself with a handkerchief, and with the other she pulls teeth from a hanged corpse, which she will use to cast a love spell. The tonal values achieved by aquatint highlight the lifeless body’s countenance as well as the young woman’s handkerchief. Goya may be referring to a traditional star-crossed romance, La Celestina , in which the tooth-potion goes awry.

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