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Menippus

A work made of etching with engraved inscription on laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching with engraved inscription on laid paper.

Date:

1778

Artist:

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
after Diego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599-1660)

About this artwork

Goya made these two etchings after Velázquez’s portrait pair reenvisioning the ancient writers Menippus (a satirical playwright) and Aesop (a storyteller). Both men were initially slaves, but became free men. They both appear in the paintings holding books or standing near piles of them, although none of their original writings have survived. Like the portraits of the court dwarves, Goya etched these thinkers on a smaller size sheet of paper than Velázquez’s portraits of contemporary nobles (and sold them at half the price).

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Title

Menippus

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.

Made 1778

Medium

Etching with engraved inscription on laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 28.5 × 19 cm (11 1/4 × 7 1/2 in.); Plate: 30.5 × 22 cm (12 1/16 × 8 11/16 in.); Sheet: 42.5 × 30.2 cm (16 3/4 × 11 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment

Reference Number

1972.18

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/38167/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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