The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

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The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Spanish: El sueño de la razon produce monstruos) is an etching made by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco de Goya. Etched between 1797–1798, it is plate 43 of the 80 etchings comprising the Los Caprichos series and was initially intended to be the frontispiece. It consists of a self-portrait of the artist with his head on a table, as owls and bats surround him, assailing him as he buries his head into his arms. Arguably the most famous plate of the series, it has gone on to become an iconic image, with its title often being quoted from Goya.