Feline Pantomime 18th-19th century

Editor: This is Goya's "Feline Pantomime," an etching from Harvard Art Museums. The imagery feels so bizarre and dreamlike. What's your take on how Goya is using imagery here? Curator: Goya often used prints to critique the social and political landscape. This image, with its strange combination of figures, likely satirizes the irrationality and folly he saw in Spanish society. Editor: So, the animalistic figures aren't just random; they're symbolic? Curator: Precisely. The pantomime suggests a performance, perhaps a commentary on how people play roles or blindly follow societal norms. Note how the composition places the cat above the kneeling figure, reversing expected hierarchies. Editor: I see that now, with the social critique, the image takes on a whole new meaning. Curator: Exactly, and it shows us how art can be a mirror reflecting, and challenging, the world around it.