Embittered by an illness that rendered him deaf, Spanish artist Francisco de Goya (1746 – 1828) created “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” The work is one of “Los Caprichos,” a series of 80 etchings that critiqued human errors and vices as well as the religious and political figures of the day. As royal painter, Goya risked banishment from the court and the Inquisition with these controversial artworks. “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” depicts the sleeping artist being plagued by creatures. Goya believed that only imagination and reason would repel these monsters.
Francisco de Goya (1746 – 1828) was a brilliant Spanish artist who expressed his irreverent attitude toward life in his paintings and etchings. Spain’s leading painter by the 1780s, Goya was influenced by Velázquez and Rembrandt as well as by nature. As court painter, he painted numerous portraits of the Spanish royal family. A devastating illness in 1792 left Goya deaf and embittered, but also led to the creation of his nightmarish "Black Paintings." He is also celebrated for his “Los Caprichos,” a series of etchings that is a scathing commentary on his era.