Ridiculous Folly, from the 'Disparates' (Follies / Irrationalities)

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

ca. 1815–19 (published 1864) · Etching, aquatint, drypoint · Drawings and Prints

Figures wrapped in cloaks and blankets sit on a tree branch, possibly at night, listening to a speech by an enigmatic figure wearing a striped mantle that conceals his face and body; only his hands are visible, emphasizing his oratorical gesture. The Spanish press often likened the nation to a tree (either thriving or diseased). Goya appears to have employed the same metaphor. The image recalls descriptions of a blight that turned olive trees black because of the "millions of insects" covering their branches and "sucking their nourishment." In the print, the tree is burdened not by parasites but by a vacant-looking audience whose passivity contributes to the country’s disease. From the posthumous first edition published by the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid in 1864 under the title 'Los Proverbios'.

Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Date

ca. 1815–19 (published 1864)

Medium

Etching, aquatint, drypoint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Henry J. Bernheim, 1936