Francisco de Goya

Carnaval folly

Clasificación
Carnaval folly
Datos Generales
Cronología
1815 - 1819
Dimensiones
246 x 357 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching and aquatint
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Ficha: realización/revisión
22 Aug 2021 / 05 Jun 2023
Inventario
-
Historia

See Femenine folly

The aquatint proof in the National Library of Spain has manuscript number 6 in the upper left corner and 21 in the right corner, as well as Carnaval Folly centred in the lower margin.

Análisis artístico

Carnival scene in which a group of characters are dressed appropriately for the celebration. Their own faces are carnival masks with grimaces and twisted gestures.

On the far left of the composition a man in festive attire points at or shoves a beak-nosed, moustachioed canon. Two other men, in the foreground, cowering and bound in their robes, are talking or shouting at each other. The one on the right has a third eye in his cheek. Next to him, a man with his back turned, wearing a hairnet and a velvet cloak, who could symbolise Spain, watches the spectacle unfolding before him. In the background lies a figure who looks like a Frenchman. Behind him is a conglomeration of human figures, animals and beings with bestialised expressions. Also towering above the group is a hooded man on long stilts.

The meaning of this picture is unknown. It has been suggested that it has a political background. Perhaps it depicts a diplomatic event such as the Congress of Vienna or the interview between the Spanish royal family and Bonaparte in Bayonne, and is therefore an image of the universal political situation after the fall of Napoleon. The two figures in the centre are tied up by higher powers or by their own lasciviousness, giving an erotic sense to the picture.

It can also be interpreted as a satire against social hypocrisy, which leads people to show themselves as what they are not, something that Goya had already denounced in the Caprice 6, Nobody Knows Each Other, although in this case the tone is much more sombre and disturbing. In any case, the theme of the carnival was very popular in 18th-century art, being represented as a joyous occasion. In popular Spanish art, carnival scenes were used as a moralising vehicle, and perhaps this was Goya's intention. The print becomes a mirror reflection in which the viewer looks, observing its dark and grotesque side. In this way, no one escapes Goya's wit.

The print is notable for a certain finesse in the etching. The light is cleverly distributed in strong patches of clarity that give relief to the figures.

Exposiciones
  • Goya
    Musée Jacquemart-André
    París
    1961
    consultant editor Jean-Gabriel Domergue. From December 1961 to February 1962
  • Etchings by Francosco Goya
    Johannesburgo
    Johannesburgo
    1974
  • Boston
    1974
  • 1976
  •  Grabados de Goya: colección propiedad de la Biblioteca Nacional, que se conserva en su Gabinete de
    Casa de la Amistad de Moscú
    Moscow
    1979
    exhibition displayed from January 18th to 31st 1979
  • Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1988
    from October 6th to December 18th 1988. Exhibited also at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 18th to March 26th 1989; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, May 9th to July 16th 1989, Madrid curator Manuela B. Mena Marqués, scientific directors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Eleanor A. Sayre
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
  • Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996
    Galerie Kornfeld
    Bern
    1996
    from November 21st 1996 to January 1997
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Goya grabador
    Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo
    Marbella
    1996
    from March 8th to May 5th 1996
  • Zaragoza
    1996
  • London
    1997
  • 1999
  • Madrid
    1999
  • Schlaf der Vernunft. Original radierungen von Francisco de Goya
    Munich
    2000
  • Goya en tiempos de guerra
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2008
    consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués, from April 14th to July 13th 2008
  • Bilbao
    2012
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    p. 396, cat. 261
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 326, cat. 1593
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    pp. 242-243, cat. 389-391
  • CARRETE, Juan, MATILLA, José Manuel, AULLÓN DE HARO, Pedro, BOZAL, Valeriano, GLENDINNING, Nigel, VEGA, Jesusa y BLAS, Javier
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando y Calcografía Nacional
    1996
    pp. 107 y 111, cat. 14 y 34
  • MATILLA, José Manuel
    Roma Edizioni de Luca
    2000
    pp. 136-137, cat. 46
  • MATILLA, José Manuel
    MadridMuseo Nacional y Ediciones El Viso
    2008
    pp. 486-487, cat. 181
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 274
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 204-211
Enlaces externos
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