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What a golden beak! (Que pico de oro!)

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Artwork Details

What a golden beak! (Que pico de oro!)
1799
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
etching, burnished aquatint and burin on paper
12 x 8 in. (30.48 x 20.32 cm);7 9/16 x 5 5/8 in. (19.21 x 14.29 cm);8 7/16 x 5 7/8 in. (21.43 x 14.92 cm);19 x 14 in. (48.26 x 35.56 cm)
Gift of Kurt Delbanco in honor of Nicholas Delbanco, and partial purchase with the funds from the W. Hawkins Ferry Fund
2008/1.152.53

Description

Plate 53
What a golden beak!
(Que pico de oro!)
Etching, burnished aquatint, and burin
Gift of Kurt Delbanco in honor of Nicholas Delbanco, and partial purchase with funds from the W. Hawkins Ferry Fund, 2008/1.152.53
Commentary: This looks a bit like an academic meeting. Perhaps the parrot is speaking about medicine? However, don’t believe a word he says. There is many a doctor who has a “golden beak” when he is talking, but when he comes to prescriptions, he’s a Herod; he can ramble on about pains, but can’t cure them: he makes fools of sick people and fills the cemeteries with skulls.

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