'Disorderly Folly' from the 'Disparates' (Follies / Irrationalities)
ca. 1815–19 (published 1864)
Medium
Etching, aquatint, drypoint
Dimensions
Plate: 9 9/16 × 13 7/8 in. (24.3 × 35.2 cm) Sheet: 13 1/8 in. × 19 in. (33.4 × 48.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924
Accession Number
24.30.8
Art Historical Context
Francisco de Goya y Luc, one of Spain's greatest artists and a pioneer of Romanticism, created *Disorderly Folly around 1815–19 as part of his enigmatic *Disparates* series also known as *Follies* or *Irrationalities This set of 22 prints, left unpublished during Goya's lifetime, was not discovered and issued until 1864, after his death. Produced in the shadow of Spain's turbulent post-Napoleonic era, the series captures Goya's dark vision of human absurdity, superstition, and societal chaos—hallmarks of his late, introspective style following his deafness and personal hardships. Printed usin...
About the Artist
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) · 1746–1828
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker considered the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Rising from modest provincial origins to become First Court Painter to Charles IV, Goya's career spanned the Enlightenment's optimism and the brutal Napoleonic invasion that shattered it. A mysterious illness in 1793 left him permanently deaf and ...