Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Beastly Folly (Disparate la Bestia)

Beastly Folly (Disparate la Bestia)

Maker (Spanish, 1746-1828)
Collections
ClassificationsPRINTS
Dateca. 1815 - 1819 (first published 1877)
Mediumetching and aquatint
Dimensions8 1/2 × 12 7/8 in. (21.6 × 32.7 cm.) sheet: 11 1/4 × 15 1/8 in. (28.6 × 38.4 cm.) mat: 22 × 16 in. (55.9 × 40.6 cm.)
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Edward W. and Julia B. Bodman Collection
Status
Not on view
Label TextUnpublished in Goya’s lifetime, this etching represents a complicated allegory that, according to one interpretation, criticizes politicians for manipulating the Spanish people into accepting authoritarian government. A group of men attempt to use a large book and bells to lure a meek, tuskless elephant that may symbolize the people of Spain. The turbaned figures represent the conservative members of Spain’s Parliament who signed the 1814 “Manifesto of the Persians” advocating for King Ferdinand VII to restore absolute monarchy. The elephant stands outside a circle of light, meant to represent the philosophical ideas of the Enlightenment. Through his use of symbolic figures in an ambiguous, dreamlike setting, Goya obscured this work’s meaning and left its political message open to interpretation.
Portfolio or SeriesFrom "Los Disparates"
Object number72.62.232
Punctual Folly, or The Queen of the Circus (Una Reina del Circo)
Punctual Folly, or The Queen of the Circus (Una Reina del Circo)
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
ca. 1820
Object number: 41.5.1575
The Moors settled in Spain, giving up the superstitions of the Koran, adopted this art of hunting, and spear a bull in the open (Los moros establecidos en Espana, prescindiendo de las supersticiones de su Alcoran, adoptaron esta caza y arte, y lancean untoro en el campo)
The Moors settled in Spain, giving up the superstitions of the Koran, adopted this art of hunting, and spear a bull in the open (Los moros establecidos en Espana, prescindiendo de las supersticiones de su Alcoran, adoptaron esta caza y arte, y lancean untoro en el campo)
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
ca. 1819
Object number: 72.62.238
The same Ceballos mounted on another bull breaks short spears in the ring at Madrid (El mismo Ceballos montado sobre otro toro quiebra rejones el la plaza de Madrid)
The same Ceballos mounted on another bull breaks short spears in the ring at Madrid (El mismo Ceballos montado sobre otro toro quiebra rejones el la plaza de Madrid)
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
ca. 1819
Object number: 72.62.247
The agility and audacity of Juanito Apiñani in the ring at Madrid (Ligereza y atrevimiento de Juanito Apinani en la plaza de Madrid)
The agility and audacity of Juanito Apiñani in the ring at Madrid (Ligereza y atrevimiento de Juanito Apinani en la plaza de Madrid)
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
ca. 1819
Object number: 72.62.245
Sleep overcomes them (Las rinde el Sueño), Plate 34 from Los Caprichos
Sleep overcomes them (Las rinde el Sueño), Plate 34 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.34
The sleep of reason produces monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos), Plate 43 from Los Caprichos
The sleep of reason produces monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos), Plate 43 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.43
The filiation (La filiacion), Plate 57 from Los Caprichos
The filiation (La filiacion), Plate 57 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.57
Until death (Hasta la muerte), Plate 55 from Los Capricho
Until death (Hasta la muerte), Plate 55 from Los Capricho
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.55
They carried her off! (Que se la llevaron!), Plate 8 from Los Caprichos
They carried her off! (Que se la llevaron!), Plate 8 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.8
Even thus he cannot make her out (Ni asi la distingue), Plate 7 from Los Caprichos
Even thus he cannot make her out (Ni asi la distingue), Plate 7 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.7
Nanny's boy (El de la rollona), Plate 4 from Los Caprichos
Nanny's boy (El de la rollona), Plate 4 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.4
They say yes and give their hand to the first comer (El si pronuncian y la mano alargen al primero que llega), Plate 2 from Los Caprichos
They say yes and give their hand to the first comer (El si pronuncian y la mano alargen al primero que llega), Plate 2 from Los Caprichos
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
1797-1798
Object number: 72.62.229.2
    The Huntington
    Copyright © The Huntington