Posing Pets

Cat's crouching, waiting to attack the magpie in the portrait of Manuel María

This is a painting on wood that Goya created prior to his portrait of Manuel María. The cats are described as malicious and seem to be the same cat's depicted in the young boy's portrait.

This is a cartoon drawn by Goya after painting Manuel María. The picture was made after Goya fell ill and lost his hearing, and it depicts very troubled times for the artist. In this disturbing and powerful cartoon, he features the young Manuel María's cats.

There are three groups of pets in the painting. The first on the right side is a cage of finches. This is thought to show the idea of the innocent being held from and protected from the rest of the world. In the center of the painting is a single magpie held by Manuel María on a string. In addition to being known for stealing items, the magpie can symbolize radical luck, either good or bad. Furthermore, Goya includes cats which were previously seen in his older works and that did hold the characteristic of being “malevolent”. They look as though they are about to pounce on the boy’s magpie, and symbolize a probable and instantaneous attack on the innocent. There is a tension between the innocent magpie and the evil, hunting cats.

In Goya’s later political cartoons and black paintings, he references those cats again commonly as creatures of evil. A possible meaning that could be inferred is that these cats did, after all, succeed in killing the innocent, though Goya did not know the outcome when he was painting.

The final touch that Goya made to the portrait was his signature which is written on a card held in the beak of the magpie. This further shows the playful attitude that Goya took to painting the portrait.  The magpie was an animal known during that time for stealing items and, instead of traditionally signing the piece, Goya is joking that the magpie stole his card during the painting.