How they Pluck Her! (¡Qual la descañonan!) by Francisco Goya (Interpretation and Analysis)

How They Pluck Her!
Source: The MET

Today, I want to return to one of my favorite subjects in art: Francisco Goya’s Caprichos series. Goya published Los Caprichos—a series of etchings that depict the social ills of contemporary Spanish culture—in 1799, at the beginning of a century that would bring tremendous change to Spain.

This print, entitled How they pluck her! (¡Qual la descañonan!) is the twenty first in the series. It is one of many Caprichos that deals with the plight of prostitutes in Spanish culture. Here, we see a prostitute—represented as a “night-hunting bird”—being attacked by three feline creatures that art historian Eleanor Sayre interprets as a constable, notary, and magistrate. The image refers to unscrupulous law enforcers, who commonly mistreated vulnerable women while hiding behind their positions; as The Ayala Commentary (a contemporary description of the Caprichos) reports, “judges take notaries and constables under their cloaks [their protection] so they can rob the women...with impunity.” These vulnerable women, often prostitutes, were unable to protest against ill treatment at the hands of powerful men; a contemporary description (from the Prado Manuscript) pithily notes that “pretty lasses also encounter birds of prey to pluck them.”

Like many of the Caprichos, this print makes use of a complex, iconological language to satirize Spanish society. Goya’s choice of the feline beast was particularly apt, as cats are traditionally associated with cunning and predation. Goya points out that civil servants are often corrupt; they use their power to feed their own greed and prey on the weak and defenseless of society. Enlightened thinkers believed that “good laws” could alleviate Spain’s societal ills, but many Spaniards were reluctant to adopt Enlightenment ideas, and real reform was slow to come. Here, Goya calls for honest law enforcement that does not target the vulnerable.

The print’s dark, mottled background is achieved with aquatint, whereas the white space, created with a technique known as “stopping out,” is reserved for the faces of the figures. Goya uses this technique to highlight the prostitute’s pitiable face and draw attention to her beast-like attackers.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.