Out hunting for teeth (A caza des dientes), plate 12 from "Los Caprichos"

In the pictureUnder a night sky, above a low stone wall, the body of a man in a white shirt hangs by the neck from a rope coming down from the top of the image. His hands are tied in front, and his bare feet almost touch the wall. On the left, a young woman covers the lower part of her face with a cloth and turns her head away, reaching out her other hand to grasp the corpse's mouth. A lace pattern shows on the light apron she wears. The plate number "12." is etched at the upper right and the title "A caza de dientes." below the image, and the plate mark remains in the wide paper margin.

BackgroundLos Caprichos is a set of 80 satirical prints that Goya published in 1799. Plate 12 deals with the superstition that the teeth of a hanged man had magical power. A contemporary commentary handed down with the series is said to contain words pitying people who believe in such superstitions. The satire is concentrated in the woman's gesture, turning her face away in fear while still reaching out her hand. The Met's record gives the techniques as etching, burnished aquatint (an aquatint area rubbed to lighten it) and burin, and the plate measures 21.8 × 14.9 cm. It is one of the single sheets given by Walter E. Sachs in 1916.

Puzzle tipThe contrast between the black night sky and the two light figures is strong. Fit the corpse's white shirt, the woman's light apron and the point where their faces and hands meet first, and the center of the image will stand. The diagonal hatching on the brick wall at the lower right and the light top of the wall at the lower left set the bottom. Use the number at the top and the title lettering below to establish the plate border, and fill the wide paper margin last. 24 or 48 pieces works well.