Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga (1784–1792)1787–88
A small boy in a bright red suit with a white sash holds a string tied to a pet magpie, which carries Goya’s calling card in its beak. More about this work
About this work
A small boy in a bright red suit with a white sash holds a string tied to a pet magpie, which carries Goya’s calling card in its beak. To one side three cats stare at the bird with wide, unblinking eyes, and on the other a cage of finches sits on the floor. Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga, son of the Count of Altamira, was about four when Goya painted him; he died at the age of eight. The charming scene carries an undercurrent of threat, tethered and caged birds watched by predators, which has been read as a reflection on the fragility of childhood.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Francisco Goya
Spanish, 1746–1828 · Born in Fuendetodos; died in Bordeaux.
Goya began with tapestry designs for the royal factory in Madrid and rose to become first painter to the Spanish court under Charles IV. After a serious illness left him deaf in the 1790s, his work grew darker and more personal. His etched series, Los Caprichos and The Disasters of War, satirise folly and record the atrocities of the Peninsular War, and he painted the Black Paintings directly on the walls of his own house. He spent his last years in exile in Bordeaux.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 49.7.41
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- European Paintings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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