Here Comes the Bogeyman, plate three from Los Caprichos

Here Comes the Bogeyman, plate three from Los Caprichos — Francisco Goya. 1797/99.

Medium: Etching and aquatint on ivory laid paper. Dimensions: Image: 19.3 × 13.6 cm (7 5/8 × 5 3/8 in.); Plate: 21.7 × 15.3 cm (8 9/16 × 6 1/16 in.); Sheet: 30.1 × 20.5 cm (11 7/8 × 8 1/8 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Plate 3 of The Caprices features a mother with her two children who are frightened by a blanketed figure of el coco (the bogeyman) in the foreground. The mother’s expression contrasts with those of her children: she smiles in gratitude and appreciation. Goya is criticizing the common practice of using fear to keep children well behaved. The print also contains a spelling error, as Goya spells viene , the Spanish verb for “to come,” incorrectly. This is a common mistake due to similarity in sounds between the Spanish b and v . He corrected it in later editions of the print.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.