The Kidnap – 8

8 – ¡Que se la llevaron! (So they carried her off!)

The eighth print in Los Caprichos shows masked figures kidnapping a woman. The exact purpose of the image is confusing, because Goya’s notes, left in a number of different locations and written at different times, do not make sense when taken as a whole.

In one set of notes, Goya indicates that the image is meant to be a warning to women to take care as to the type of men with whom they associate. He writes, ‘The woman who does not know how to protect herself is a prime target to be kidnapped‘.

However, in another set of notes, Goya describes a more specific scene: ‘A priest who has been enjoying an illicit love affair employs a boorish farmhand to help him carry away the object of his affections.‘