Que pico de Oro! 1796 - 1797

This is Francisco de Goya’s etching, "Que pico de Oro!", meaning "What a golden beak!". The composition reveals a dark, foreboding scene centered around a gathering of grotesque figures listening intently to a perched parrot. Goya masterfully employs aquatint to create stark contrasts, plunging much of the scene into shadow, which heightens the emotional tension and satirical commentary. The figures, rendered with exaggerated features, seem to strain towards the light, their expressions conveying a mix of awe and desperation. This reflects Goya’s incisive critique of societal structures, where irrationality and the absurd often hold sway. The parrot, positioned as a central orator, becomes a symbol for empty rhetoric, mocking those who blindly follow hollow pronouncements. Goya uses this allegorical structure to destabilize the accepted hierarchies of knowledge and authority. In this context, the formal elements of stark light and shadow amplify a deeper cultural critique, suggesting a world where appearances are deceptive and reason is subverted by spectacle.