"Muchachos al avío" is plate no. 11 of Los Caprichos by Francisco de Goya (1746-1828): a group of smugglers get ready at the foot of a tree: one ties his footwear, another handles a knife and a third sits smoking. The series of 80 plates, published in 1799, is Goya's great satire on the vices, abuses and superstitions of the Spanish society of his day.
This impression belongs to the edition printed by Rupérez at the Calcografía Nacional in 1937, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, for the Ministry of Public Instruction. Five numbered sets, 1 to 5, were dedicated to Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt and Manuel Azaña, President of the Republic, two of them remaining unassigned; a further fifteen sets numbered 6 to 20 were issued on Japanese Imperial paper. This print bears the number 19 on the back. One of the first sets printed in 1937 was presented by the Spanish ambassador in London to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it was exhibited. The sheet bears the blind stamp of the Calcografía Nacional, the letters CN surrounded by the legend "Calcografía Nacional Ministerio de Instrucción Pública". Thomas Harris notes that it is a very well engraved edition.
Medium: Etching and aquatint on Japanese Imperial paper.
Artist / after: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828).
Engraver: Francisco de Goya.
Date: Plates etched c. 1797-1799; printed in 1937.
Source: Calcografía Nacional, Madrid. 1937 edition for the Ministry of Public Instruction, set no. 19, with blind stamp.
Dimensions: Plate 8.3 x 5.9 in (21 x 15 cm); sheet 15 x 11.2 in (38 x 28.5 cm).
Condition: Paper evenly toned, with a few small bluish specks at the right edge, level with the lower margin; well-marked plate mark.