Chinchillas 18th-19th century

Curator: Goya's etching, "Chinchillas," strikes me immediately as a scene of nightmarish absurdity. The aquatint gives it a shadowy, almost unreal quality. Editor: Absolutely. Look at the printmaking technique—the etching and aquatint combined. It's not just about the image, but the labor-intensive process, likely using copper plates, acid, and meticulous craftsmanship to produce these tonal variations and linear details. Curator: Yes, the figures are grotesque, masked, and caught in some sort of violent act. One is being attacked, the other seems indifferent. It feels like a commentary on the irrationality of human behavior. Editor: Well, think about what would have been required to produce an image like this. Each print would have taken time and materials, but Goya’s choice of printmaking also democratizes the image for wider consumption, making it a multiple. Curator: That's true. The prints allowed his critical visions to circulate. It seems that in this piece Goya uses the symbolic weight to ask us to look at our deepest darkest selves, no? Editor: Perhaps. But for me it’s a study in the economics and social power imbued in image making, how it functions, how it is made, and how it has circulated. Curator: What a thought provoking and multifaceted piece! Editor: Indeed, Goya offers a lot to consider.