# Seated Giant

**Francisco Goya** (Spanish, 1746–1828)  
by 1818 (possibly 1814–18)  
Burnished aquatint, scaper, roulette, lavis (along the top of the landscape and within the landscape)  
Plate: 11 3/16 × 8 3/16 in. (28.4 × 20.8 cm) Framed: 21 3/4 × 19 in. (55.2 × 48.3 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 35.42. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/334002).

## About this work

A colossal nude figure sits on the edge of the world, turning to look back over his shoulder, while a tiny landscape lies at his feet. Goya created the image in burnished aquatint, scraping and polishing light out of a dark tonal ground so that the giant seems to emerge from the night. Only a handful of impressions are known, and its meaning remains open: it has been read as an image of war, of fate or of Spain itself in the troubled years after the Napoleonic invasion.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Francisco Goya made this (by 1818 (possibly 1814–18)), aged 72. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Aquatint.** Resin dust is fused to the plate and bitten with acid, so the plate prints areas of tone, like a wash, rather than lines.

### [Francisco Goya](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Prints
- The artist was 72
- Real size: about 11 × 8 in (28 × 21 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Men, Male Nudes
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/989.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/989/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/seated-giant-met-334002).