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Two seated figures - one with hands clasped and legs in chains, the other in religious habit holding a cross

Maker

Forgery in the manner of

1746-1828

Formerly attributed to

1746-1828

Title

Date of Production

1900 - 1999?

Medium

graphite, brush and brown wash on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 13.5 cm
Width: 9.8 cm

Accession Number

D.2011.XX.5

Mode of Acquisition

Francis Ford, gift, 2011

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This figure scene shows a man held captive as his feet are tied, a veiled woman next to him seems to support him. She might be a nun as she is holding a cross. The iconography is, however, unclear. Figure style, choice of enigmatic subject matter and drawing technique of the washed brush drawing are all reminiscent of Goya.

Goya’s drawings are exceedingly rare and have been widely copied and forged both during the artist’s life time and in the 20th century for a market eager to buy Goya’s work. This sheet is by all likelihood such a forgery from the 20th century and had been acquired by Sir Brinsley Ford as a forgery.

Notes

The drawing is an adaptation of a drawing by Francisco Goya y Lucientes: Album C.51 Esto ya se be (This is a sight often seen) Museo Nacional del Prado. D004043 https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/esto-ya-se-be/2eb5296c-c3af-4301-8afe-c139ad37f17d In the original drawing, the prisoner is seated on the ground, but here on what appears to be a stone block. Unless Goya’s drawing was included in the D’Achiardi facsimiles, Rome, 1908 (not included in the Prado Bibliography), it could have been seen in the permanent public display mounted in the ‘Sala de los dibujos de Goya’ (see Sánchez Cantón 1928). Alternatively, access would have been available for conservators working on the collection or authorised students and copyists.

Provenance

Tomás Harris, London and Majorca (1908-1964); purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 13 February 1928 (as Goya, 'Beggar & Monk', £30); purchased there by Henry Oppenheimer, London (1859-1932), 20 February 1928 (£120, including D.2011.XX.6); his estate sale, Christie's (London), 10 and 13 - 14 July 1936, lot 460 (as a forgery, along with D.2011.XX.6 and D.2011.XX.8); purchased there by Sir Brinsley Ford (1908-1999); by descent to his son, Francis Ford; Gift of Francis Ford, 2011

Inscriptions

Watermark: none.

Inscription: Verso: lower left corner, graphite: "8"; lower right corner, graphite, Colnaghi number: "A 5059". Mount (removed, now missing, see photograph in file), Recto of aperture: lower right corner, brown ink: “No 705”. Mount (removed, recorded in acquisition report), Verso of back board: upper left corner, graphite, Colnaghi inventory number: “A5059, 16”; lower left corner, red crayon, lot in Oppenheimer sale - also appears on D.2011.XX.6 and D.2011.XX.8: “460”.

Collector's mark: none.

Label: Handwritten in black ink: "These were bought as / FAKES of Guys / Goya / and Tiepolo / and might be of interest to / the Courtauld Institute".

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