There They Go Plucked (i.e. fleeced), plate 20 from Los Caprichos

There They Go Plucked (i.e. fleeced), plate 20 from Los Caprichos — Francisco Goya. 1797/99.

Medium: Etching and aquatint on ivory laid paper. Dimensions: Image: 19.8 × 13.3 cm (7 13/16 × 5 1/4 in.); Plate: 21.8 × 15.2 cm (8 5/8 × 6 in.); Sheet: 30 × 20.7 cm (11 13/16 × 8 3/16 in.).

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

In Los caprichos (meaning caprices or whims), a series of etchings by Francisco de Goya, the artist presented his veiled criticisms of late-18th-century Spanish society. Here he depicted ne’er-do-wells—in the form of plucked chicken-men—being cheated by prostitutes. Emphasizing the intended moral of the work’s title, Goya commented of the chickenmen: “If they have already been plucked, get them out: there will be others coming along.” He went so far as to express his anticlerical attitude—dangerous for a man living during the Spanish Inquisition—by including two friars, who stand behind the prostitutes, tolerating, if not condoning, the scene before them.

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.