Francisco Goya Carnival

Francisco Goya’s Disparate de Carnival, also known as the Carnival folly, depicts a circus of disfigured animations with human-like qualities. Regardless of being called a “carnival,” the work seems extremely dreary and very much less lighthearted. This piece was made as a mere reflection of Goya’s depiction of his society. The artist is attempting to expose the monstrous qualities of mankind through the use of anthropomorphic animations. Although this specific piece might look like the works of a mad man, Goya makes it apparent that his intentions were rather to symbolize the monsters inside of us. The artist does this by making the figure in an animal mask into the focus of the composition. Rather than making his figures absolute beasts,
Goya give them human qualities, with arms and two legs. This is also evident in the deacon and clown like characters on the left side of the artwork. Despite being able to decipher their bodies, their faces look quite ghoulish. Additionally, the beastlike man and clown create a V-shape. The shape illuminates the work by clashing the light and dark of the print. The extraordinary contrast similarly reflects the disharmony between the rights and wrong of society. The background of the print, in spite of being highly distorted, serves to represent the tumultuous times.
Perhaps Goya constructed the background to be very scattered to show the chaos. Although the foreground is created with a variety of different directions, the background had been marked with linear, uniform etchings. In doing so, he is able to bring out the foreground, while allowing the audiences’ attention to also be drawn into the background. Some figures can also be seen within the background. Sinister models, such as a thief and a demon-like face, are made clear to represent the human’s nature to be evil. Additionally, Goya includes a hooded figure that seems to represent Death. After being plagued with the death of those around him, the incorporation of Death only seemed appropriate. Furthermore, the artist composes the print with defined lines to emphasize his inner turmoil. Goya’s most perceivable figures are created with an increased intensity of vigorous lines. In doing so, the audience is forced to focus on the four main figures. Despite having etched so many lines, the upper portion of the piece is left completely untouched. The purity of the section shows a slightness of hope or light emerging within the horrors of the
article. Goya’s genuine purpose behind this print was to create a nightmare that mirrored that of the world’s ever growing torments.