‘General Folly’ from the ‘Disparates’ (Follies / Irrationalities)

Description

General Folly by Francisco Goya brings an extraordinary gathering out of the darkness. Pale faces, extravagant clothing and restless gestures emerge in fragments, inviting the eye to move through the crowd. The contrast between luminous details and enveloping shadow gives the scene its unsettling, dreamlike energy.

Part of Disparates, the work was created around 1815–19 using etching and burnished aquatint and first published in 1864. Goya turns the crowd into a shifting drama whose expressions never quite settle into a single story. General Folly offers a compelling encounter with the strange imaginative world of his later art.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Goya collection.