El sueno de la razon produce monstruos. (The sleep of reason produces monsters.) is the most well known piece from Goya’s 1799 ‘Los Caprichos’ series of eighty aquatint etchings which aimed to condemn the society in which he lived. Indicated to be the 43rd of the 80 published etchings as evidenced in the top right, an inscription in the precursory sketch for this print, housed in Madrid’s Prado Museum, reveals that it was originally intended as the title print. The print depicts monstrous animals– owls and bats with an unsettling subtle distortion– flying above a sleeping painter. The alert lynx to his right arches its head in alarm, aware of the frightening nonautomy that awaits the artist in his dreams.

SKU: 66397
Creator: Francisco de Goya
Date: 1796-1797
Original Medium: Etching and aquatint
Original Size: 8.4 x 5.9 in.
Location: Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University