Who painted Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather)?

Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather) was painted by Francisco Goya in 1799.

Where can I see Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather)?

Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather) is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather)?

Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather) is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather)

Francisco Goya , 1799

Asta su abuelo (And So Was His Grandfather) is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Francisco Goya. It dates from 1799 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created in 1799, *Asta su abuelo* (And So Was His Grandfather) is a print by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. Executed with lift‑ground aquatint and aquatint on laid paper, the work belongs to Goya’s early print output, produced amid the political turbulence of late‑eighteenth‑century Spain.

Subject & Meaning

The image depicts a donkey perched atop a stack of books, its muzzle reaching toward a hand that offers food. The donor’s legs and feet are visible, grasping the volumes. The title, a colloquial phrase, suggests a humorous commentary on the inheritance of undesirable habits—here, the donkey’s voracious appetite for literature as a metaphor for mindless consumption.

Technique & Style

Goya employed lift‑ground aquatint, a method that allows for broad tonal areas, combined with finer aquatint lines to render stark chiaroscuro. The contrast between deep shadows and illuminated surfaces gives the scene a gritty, almost theatrical quality, while the sharp outlines emphasize the animal’s alert ears and the texture of the paper support.

History & Provenance

The print was produced during Goya’s formative years, before his later series of darker works. It reflects his early interest in satirical subjects and social observation. Existing copies are held in several European collections, having passed through private hands before entering museum archives in the nineteenth century.