Goya etching, Que Viene el Coco

Frame: 17" x 14 1/4"
Drawing: 7.5" x 5 1/4"

(Source: MET Museum)This scene of a mother staring at a shrouded figure while her two terrified children cling to her has been interpreted as Goyas criticism of a repressive educational system based on fear of supernatural beings. Although a concern with poor education pervades the Caprichos, Goyas specific target here is the women traditionally responsible for passing beliefs from one generation to the next. Implicating women in their childrens ignorance and superstition, the print alludes to the bogeyman--who wears fashionably pointy shoes beneath his robe--as the mothers illicit lover. That reading would explain the contrasting expressions of the mother and her children.

Good condition overall