Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga
The Magpie
Francisco Goya · 1787 to 1788
01
Goya paints a count's son.
Manuel. Born April 1784.
Red suit. Satin sash. Lace collar.
02
In his hand, a string.
On the string, his pet magpie.
It holds something in its beak.
03
Three cats in the shadow.
Eyes wide.
All of them on the bird.
04
Across from them, a cage of finches.
Safe behind a few thin bars.
05
Look at the scrap of paper.
It's a calling card.
It's Goya's. He signed the painting in the bird's beak.
The whole room.
Uncropped.
“EL Sr. Dn. MANVEL OSORIO MANRRIQVE DE ZVÑIGA Sr. DE GINES NACIO EN ABR A II DE 1784”
1792
Manuel dies. He is eight.
The inscription gives his birth. Only his birth.
The Met reads the cats, the cage, the string
as how little stands between a child and harm.
Francisco Goya
Spanish · Romanticism · 1746 to 1828
Sources · 4
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