Los caprichos  

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The Sleep of Reason Produces Monstersis a 1799 print by Goya from the Caprichos series. It is the image the sleeping artist surrounded by the winged ghoulies and beasties unleashed by unreason.
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The Sleep of Reason Produces Monstersis a 1799 print by Goya from the Caprichos series. It is the image the sleeping artist surrounded by the winged ghoulies and beasties unleashed by unreason.

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Caprichos is a set of 80 aquatint prints created by the Spanish master-painter Francisco Goya during the 1790s; among the most famous prints is "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters".

The prints were Goya's artistic experiment: a medium for his condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which he lived. The criticisms are far-ranging and acid; he speaks against the predominance of superstition, the ignorance and inabilities of the various members of the ruling class, pedagogical short-comings, marital mistakes, and the decline of rationality - among other things.

Goya described the series as depicting "the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance, or self-interest have made usual".

The work was an enlightened, visual tour-de-force critique of 18th century Spain, and humanity in general. The informal style, as well as the depiction of contemporary society found in Caprichos, makes them – and Goya himself – a precursor to the modernist movement almost a century later.

Caprichos were withdrawn from public sale before their planned release in 1799. Only a formal order from King Carlos IV kept Goya from being called before the Spanish Inquisition.

Francisco Goya was considered skilled but unremarkable until he contracted lead poisoning in his late forties and made Caprichos.

List of Spanish titles of the prints

List of translation of the titles of the Caprichos, English translations by Hugh Stokes

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Los caprichos" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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