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This is What You Were Born For, plate twelve from The Disasters of War

A work made of etching, lavis, drypoint and burin on ivory wove paper with gilt edges.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching, lavis, drypoint and burin on ivory wove paper with gilt edges.

Date:

1810/12, published 1863

Artist:

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
Spanish, 1746-1828

About this artwork

In Francisco de Goya’s series The Disasters of War, 10 of the 80 etchings are devoted to piles of dead bodies, aggressively cementing this subject’s narrative importance. Goya seems to have been engrossed in the artistic possibilities that these groupings allowed. The bodies are portrayed in varied compositions and techniques—some with aquatint, some with traditional etching. Some only depict the dead (alternately naked or clothed), and others, like This Is What You Were Born For, mingle the dead and barely alive.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Title

This is What You Were Born For, plate twelve from The Disasters of War

Place

Spain (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1810–1812

Medium

Etching, lavis, drypoint and burin on ivory wove paper with gilt edges

Dimensions

Image: 12.6 × 19.1 cm (5 × 7 9/16 in.); Plate: 15.9 × 23.5 cm (6 5/16 × 9 5/16 in.); Sheet: 24 × 34 cm (9 1/2 × 13 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of J. C. Cebrian

Reference Number

1920.1317

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/124855/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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