It is popular to describe Francisco Goya (March 30, 1746 to April 16, 1828) as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Moderns. This is a cliche. Rather I think we have to bow to Goya as one of the most original artists in history, incapable of being categorized, but leaving modern art in his wake.
Los Caprichos is a series of 80 etchings Goya did, and publilshed in 1799. Item # 60 in this set is titled "Trials" and shares the theme of dream transformations typical of the series.
"Trials" features a man being hurt by a woman who is pulling his ear. People who think Freud introduced the human unconscious, or sexuality in the unconscious, into modern awareness are ignorant of history.
There are two cats in the foreground of this etching and a huge ram overlooking the whole scene. One of the cats stares knowingly at the viewer. But what is the cat knowing? Goya may have gazed into reality so closely that like any mystic's sight, verbal glossings are inappropriate.
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