When Day Breaks We Will Be Off, Plate 71 (1799): Art, History and Details

When Day Breaks We Will Be Off, Plate 71 (1799) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Francisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Francisco de Goya used printmaking to explore subjects that stirred controversy when represented in more public media, such as oil painting. This print belongs to Los Caprichos, a series of enigmatic images that critique the hypocrisy and irrationality the artist observed throughout contemporary Spanish society. Here, a group of witches prepares to fly without broomsticks or sight, suggesting ignorance and obliviousness. The dense and starry sky behind them was created using layers of aquatint—a technique that Goya was among the earliest and most expert artists to adopt.

Object facts

• Title: When Day Breaks We Will Be Off, Plate 71
• Date: 1799
• Creator attribution: Francisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828)
• Culture: Spain
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching and aquatint
• Dimensions: Image: 17.3 x 12.7 cm (6 13/16 x 5 in.); Plate: 19.7 x 14.9 cm (7 3/4 x 5 7/8 in.); Sheet: 32 x 22.4 cm (12 5/8 x 8 13/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1956.274

A detail from the museum

Francisco de Goya gave each of the prints in Los Caprichos, including this one, intentionally cryptic titles.

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.