Madness (Locura)

Compared to the earlier sheets from the Madrid Album, the boldness and simplicity of Goya's later drawings, with their stripped-down presentation, are striking. Gone are the depictions of festively dressed young majas and the richly washed backgrounds. Instead, we find an elderly man--isolated on the page and in his dementia-- behind a railing or walking device, staring in distress, mouth agape, hands uplifted in outrage, a fool's cap perched on his head. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"