Great folly
1824 - 1828. Pencil on grey laid paper.Not on display
The title written by Goya indicates the absurd nature of the scene represented, which is hard to explain. The severed head is being fed by the body from which it has been separated. At the same time, through a funnel located in its neck, this body receives a fluid poured by who may be a surgeon or apothecary, on whose right we see the instruments used for the decapitation. An old sorceress observes the scene while endorsing the treatment with her false wisdom, the product of ignorance and unreasonableness.
Sketchbooks G and H were produced in Bordeaux, probably simultaneously or very close to one another in time, as evidenced by their formal, stylistic and technical similarity. In them, Goya gave free rein to his capacity for invention based on specific events he had experienced, such as the popular characters seen on the streets of Paris and Bordeaux, and to his pure imagination. Goya depicts the most significant issues presented over the course of his career, but in this case the changes the tone from satirical to grotesque: the falsehood of humanity, inequality, poverty, irrationality and the violence of individuals and of society. Most of the drawings in Sketchbook G include handwritten titles. Goya introduced the use of crayon in these albums. This occurs in coincidence to his interest in lithography and his practice of that procedure in Bordeaux.
Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Santander, Fundación Botín, 2017, p.124-126 n.74; 198-199 n.74
