Collection

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos)

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

1 of 2

Object Label

The Caprices (Los Caprichos) is a set of eighty etchings created between 1797 and 1798. On view are thirteen examples of the Brooklyn Museum’s rare “trial proof” set, which is composed of early impressions of a print made by the artist prior to the published edition. In the first part of the series, Goya critiques the characters, institutions, and values of early modern Spanish society; the second focuses on bizarre and macabre imagery.

The most famous image, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos), conveys a purposeful ambiguity regarding the conflict between Spanish religiosity and Enlightenment thought: sueño may refer both to the sleep or absence of reason, and to the dream of reason (reason unchecked) that produces monsters. This idea reappears later in the exhibition in Robert Longo’s work.

Caption

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828). The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos), 1797–1798. Etching and aquatint on laid paper, Sheet: 11 7/8 x 8 in. (30.2 x 20.3 cm) Other (Plate): 8 1/2 x 5 15/16 in. (21.6 x 15.1 cm) Image: 7 1/4 x 4 13/16 in. (18.4 x 12.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, Frank L. Babbott Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 37.33.43.

Gallery

Not on view

Title

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos)

Date

1797–1798

Geography

Place made: Spain

Medium

Etching and aquatint on laid paper

Classification

Print

Dimensions

Sheet: 11 7/8 x 8 in. (30.2 x 20.3 cm) Other (Plate): 8 1/2 x 5 15/16 in. (21.6 x 15.1 cm) Image: 7 1/4 x 4 13/16 in. (18.4 x 12.2 cm)

Inscriptions

Upper right in plate: "43." Verso upper center in graphite: "37.33-43"

Markings

Verso stamped upper center: "BROOKLYN MUSEUM/BROOKLYN, N.Y." in rectangle (Lugt 307b)

Credit Line

A. Augustus Healy Fund, Frank L. Babbott Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund

Accession Number

37.33.43

Frequent Art Questions

  • Can you tell me more about these two?

    The first photo you sent is "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters." The name is a play on words. “Sueño” can mean “sleep” or “dream.” The implication is that when reason sleeps monsters are dreamt up instead to fill the space or that the figure is experiencing reason in excess, unchecked by reality.
    The second shows an old witch showing a young witch how to fly. Goya often critiqued belief in magic and folklore in his prints. You can see that he also liked to use owls as symbols of demons or monsters.

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.

Artists and makers

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

83 works in the collection