In plate 3 of the Caprichos, Goya criticizes the educational practice of scaring children into being good by preying on impressionable minds. Goya deliberately leaves it open who is hiding beneath the spooky disguise that terrifies the children and seems to command their mother’s rapt attention. The artist would return to the bogeyman motif in Disparate no. 2 (Fearful Folly) to make a more general point. (TD 2024, translation Büro LS Anderson, Berlin)
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