Francisco de Goya

Beastly folly

Clasificación
Beastly folly
Datos Generales
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
-
Historia

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This is one of the four unpublished prints that the magazine L'Art published in 1877.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.

Análisis artístico

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.

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. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • 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
  • Zaragoza
    1996
  • London
    1997
  • 1999
  • Madrid
    1999
  • Schlaf der Vernunft. Original radierungen von Francisco de Goya
    Munich
    2000
  • Bilbao
    2012
  • Agen
    2019
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    pp. 405-406, cat. 268
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 326, cat. 1603
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p. 247, cat. 398
  • 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 113, cat. 18 y 43-46
  • MATILLA, José Manuel
    Roma Edizioni de Luca
    2000
    pp. 152-153, cat. 56
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 204-211
  • MOTTIN, Bruno, EFEDAQUE, Adrien and WILSON-BAREU, Juliet
    AgenSnoeck
    2019
    pp. 124-125
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