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To Go Amongst the Branches, i.e. to talk through one's hat, plate three from Los Proverbios

A work made of etching, aquatint, and drypoint on ivory wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching, aquatint, and drypoint on ivory wove paper.

Date:

1815/24

Artist:

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
Spanish, 1746-1828

About this artwork

This print belongs to a series Goya began in his late 70s but never finished before his move to France in 1824. Titled Los disparates, which roughly translates to “absurdities,” the series includes darkly enigmatic images at once sympathetic and satirical, each one suggesting human folly. Here a group of figures of various ages huddles like a flock of birds on a giant, leafless branch.

The original Spanish title of the print, Andarse por las ramas, literally means to walk between branches, but is used figuratively to mean something like the English expression “to beat around the bush.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Title

To Go Amongst the Branches, i.e. to talk through one's hat, plate three from Los Proverbios

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 1815–1824

Medium

Etching, aquatint, and drypoint on ivory wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 21.2 × 32.3 cm (8 3/8 × 12 3/4 in.); Plate: 24.4 × 35.2 cm (9 5/8 × 13 7/8 in.); Sheet: 33.1 × 49.7 cm (13 1/16 × 19 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

The Charles Deering Collection

Reference Number

1927.3312

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/44896/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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