Carnaval folly

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.