017. Francisco Goya

THE FEMALE GIANT
In 1826 Goya made several drawings depicting attractions at the fair in Bordeaux. One such spectacle was the female giant, whom he portrayed towering over a crowd of ogling sensation seekers. By compressing this group, Goya created a margin to the left where he has added his signature. The pentimento of the woman's right arm, previously raised above the crowd, accentuates the crude gaze, directed at her anatomy, of two male spectators. Goya thus offers an inverted vision of humanity by contrasting the dignity of the fairground freak with the indecorous stares from the crowd below.