- Cronología
- 1815 - 1819
- Dimensiones
- 245 x 350 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Documented work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 22 Aug 2021 / 05 Jun 2023
- Inventario
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See Femenine folly.
This is one of the four unpublished prints that the magazine L'Art published in 1877. The plate is in a private collection in Paris.
There is a print in the Lazaro Galdiano Foundation with the number 22 handwritten in the upper left corner and the legend Timely folly in the lower margin.
One of the four versions published in L'Art has the following inscription printed in the lower margin: Goya inv. et sc. / OTRAS LEYES PARA EL PUEBLO / (Autres lois por le peuple) / L’Art-F.cois Liénard Imp. Paris.
A giant, tame, tuskless elephant stands outside a ring of light. He is confronted by four oriental, bearded men with exotic gestures and attire, who try to lure the pachyderm by the sound of bell-shaped harnesses worn by one of them. Another of these men shows him a large book, while one of his companions looks up at the sky. The last of them is simply there. Goya gives them a treatment very similar to that of the Moors in Bullfighting, claiming the elephant in much the same way as the bullfighter cites the bull. The setting has an arid grandeur thanks to the existence of rocks without vegetation. The effects of light and shadow favour the colossalism of the rocky walls and the animal itself.
The elephant has traditionally been a symbol of strength, intelligence and meekness. In this case it seems to be the Spanish people, docile and submissive, deceived by the politicians, represented in these Persians, the name given to the supporters of the absolutist regime of Ferdinand VII following the publication of the so-called Manifesto of the Persians. The animal is outside the large luminous circle, symbolising the light of the Enlightenment.
Goya originally intended to place the large animal on the left of the composition, although he finally rectified his plan and placed it on the right. The drawing is very perfect, with lines that suggest the roughness of the elephant´s skin.
The preparatory drawing for the present print, also entitled Beastly folly, is still preserved.
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GoyaMusée Jacquemart-AndréParís1961consultant editor Jean-Gabriel Domergue. From December 1961 to February 1962
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Etchings by Francosco GoyaJohannesburgoJohannesburgo1974
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Boston1974
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1976
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Grabados de Goya: colección propiedad de la Biblioteca Nacional, que se conserva en su Gabinete deCasa de la Amistad de MoscúMoscow1979exhibition displayed from January 18th to 31st 1979
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Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)Hamburger KunsthalleHamburg1980cat. 160
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Goya y el espíritu de la IlustraciónMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1988from 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
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Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalBiblioteca NacionalMadrid1996from September 19th to December 15th 1996cat. 311
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Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996Galerie KornfeldBern1996from November 21st 1996 to January 1997
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Goya. 250 AniversarioMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1996consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
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Zaragoza1996
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London1997
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1999
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Madrid1999
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Schlaf der Vernunft. Original radierungen von Francisco de GoyaMunich2000
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Bilbao2012
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Agen2019cat. 70
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OxfordBruno Cassirer1964pp. 405-406, cat. 268
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 326, cat. 1603
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996p. 247, cat. 398
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MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando y Calcografía Nacional1996pp. 107 y 113, cat. 18 y 43-46
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Roma Edizioni de Luca2000pp. 152-153, cat. 56
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Goya. In the Norton Simon MuseumPasadenaNorton Simon Museum2016pp. 204-211
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AgenSnoeck2019pp. 124-125