Ridiculous Folly, from the 'Disparates' (Follies / Irrationalities) ca. 1815–19 (published 1864) Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) Spanish 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 becau
Ridiculous Folly, from the 'Disparates' (Follies / Irrationalities) ca. 1815–19 (published 1864) Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) Spanish 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 the posthumous first edition published by the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid in 1864 under the title 'Los Proverbios'.. Ridiculous Folly, from the 'Disparates' (Follies / Irrationalities). Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, Fuendetodos 1746–1828 Bordeaux). ca. 1815–19 (published 1864). Etching, aquatint, drypoint. Prints
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