Friar Pedro Wrests the Gun from El Maragato (c. 1806): Artwork and History

Friar Pedro Wrests the Gun from El Maragato (c. 1806) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

In small, lively paintings made for his own pleasure or for a few discerning patrons, Francisco de Goya explored satirical and popular aspects of Spanish life. This series was inspired by a contemporary event, the capture of notorious criminal El Maragato by Friar Pedro de Saldivia in 1806. After escaping from prison, El Maragato spent two months stealing food, guns, and money before trying to take Friar Pedro and other innocent people hostage. The friar outsmarted the bandit, however, seizing his gun, shooting him in the thigh as he tried to flee, and finally tying him up. This story was extremely popular in the early 19th century and Spanish artists memorialized it in images, poems, and songs.

Object facts

• Title: Friar Pedro Wrests the Gun from El Maragato
• Date: c. 1806
• Artist attribution: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)
• Place of origin: Spain
• Medium: Oil on panel
• Dimensions: 29.2 × 38.5 cm (11 1/2 × 15 3/8 in.); Framed: 41.9 × 51.1 × 6.4 cm (16 1/2 × 20 1/8 × 2 1/2 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1933.1073

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.