They've Already Got a Seat (Ya tienen asiento)
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
European Art
Los Caprichos, Goya's famous series of satirical etchings and aquatints, consists of eighty plates with text. "Since the artist is convinced that the censure of human errors and vices … may also be the object of painting," he wrote in 1799, "he has chosen subjects adequate for his work [Los Caprichos], from the multitude of follies and blunders common in every civil society, as well as from the vulgar prejudices, and lies authorized by custom, ignorance or interest, those that he has thought most suitable for ridicule as well as for exercising the artificer's fancy."
In plate 26 of Los Caprichos, two young ladies, blindly following the vicissitudes of fashion to the point of immodesty, wear their petticoats and upturned chairs on their heads—much to the mocking amusement of onlookers. With his title Ya tienen asiento, Goya makes a play on the Spanish word asiento which means both "seat" and "judgment," suggesting that these young ladies are thinking with their bottoms.
Considered the earliest proof set extant, the Museum's Los Caprichos is from the first and second states prior to the first edition. The quality of the impressions in the Museum's set is unsurpassed.
In plate 26 of Los Caprichos, two young ladies, blindly following the vicissitudes of fashion to the point of immodesty, wear their petticoats and upturned chairs on their heads—much to the mocking amusement of onlookers. With his title Ya tienen asiento, Goya makes a play on the Spanish word asiento which means both "seat" and "judgment," suggesting that these young ladies are thinking with their bottoms.
Considered the earliest proof set extant, the Museum's Los Caprichos is from the first and second states prior to the first edition. The quality of the impressions in the Museum's set is unsurpassed.
PORTFOLIO/SERIES
Los Caprichos, Plate 26
MEDIUM
Etching and aquatint on laid paper
DATES
1797–1798
DIMENSIONS
Sheet: 11 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (30.2 x 20 cm)
Other (Plate): 8 9/16 x 6 in. (21.7 x 15.2 cm)
Image: 7 5/8 x 5 7/16 in. (19.4 x 13.8 cm) (show scale)
INSCRIPTIONS
Upper right in plate: "26."; lower center in plate: "Ya tienen asiento."
COLLECTIONS
European Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.33.26
CREDIT LINE
A. Augustus Healy Fund, Frank L. Babbott Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828). They've Already Got a Seat (Ya tienen asiento), 1797–1798. Etching and aquatint on laid paper, Sheet: 11 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (30.2 x 20 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, Frank L. Babbott Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 37.33.26 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.33.26_SL1.jpg)
STATE
Trial proof
IMAGE
overall, 37.33.26_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.
The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
![[Untitled]](https://d1lfxha3ugu3d4.cloudfront.net/images/opencollection/objects/size2_sq/85.30.6.jpg)
