Preparatory drawings in
gouache have been conserved of fifteen prints, for the most part preserved in the
Prado. Six other drawings are also known that were not made into prints, giving us a total of twenty-one preparatory drawings from
Los disparates. The changes introduced between the drawing and the final print are greater than in the rest of Goya's graphic work. For example, in the preparatory drawing for
Cruel folly (#6), a soldier appears, expelling a group of people with his rifle at a military sentry box. In the final picture, the soldier is a civilian, the sentry box has disappeared, and the rifle has become a pike which pierces the face of a man. File:Disparates 06.jpg|
Los Disparates no.6 File:Dibujo preparatorio al Disparate 6. Disparate furioso.jpg|Preparatory drawing for
Los Disparates no.6 For many scholars, the work's enigma lies in possible
iconographic interpretations. Critics such as
Charles Yriarte (among others), saw the series as a continuation of
Los Caprichos and with the latest prints of
The Disasters of War, the so-called "emphatic caprices." Beyond the semantic relationship between "folly" and "caprice," the recovery of the element of political and social satire, as a common space, was emphasized. Almost all the authors, however, emphasize as characteristic and somewhat exclusive elements of the
Disparates, the high degree of fantasy, the presentation of nightmare scenes, the grotesque and monstrous aspect of the characters that inhabit it, together with their lack of logic, or at least a logic different from traditional sanity. All this has made this work be considered closer to the
Black Paintings. In the 20th century,
avant-garde and
expressionist artists, such as
Paul Klee or
Emil Nolde, highlighted the "modernity" of the
Disparates, although their interpretations were highly subjective. Attempts have been made to analyze
Los Disparates in the light of
psychoanalysis, emphasizing their sexual and violent character. It has also been proposed to return to the title of
Proverbs of the 1864 edition, in this sense of analyzing the series as "an illustration of proverbs or sayings," as happens in the satirical paintings of the Netherlands (such as in the work of
Pieter Bruegel the Elder).
Nigel Glendinning relates many of the motifs to the Spanish tradition of Carnaval, Glendinning observes that one of Carnaval's traits is that of subversion of everything that represents authority — institutions such as marriage, the army, and the clergy. Almost all of the works in
Los disparates show how the representation of power is overthrown, humiliated, ignored, or ridiculed. In
Clear folly (#15), a man in a military outfit appears to be thrown out of a scenario that a group of people are struggling to cover with a tarp. In
Feminine folly (#1), a doll thrown by women wears a military uniform. In
Fearful folly (#2), a soldier runs away in terror from someone who has disguised himself in large, ghost-like sheets. Despite the fact that the face peeking out from a sleeve gives him away, the military man does not notice it. This satire of the establishment, perhaps a simple Goyesque mockery, is repeated in
Carnaval folly (#14) where a military man is seen in the center of the crowd asleep, possibly drunk or unconscious, but unquestionably presented as ridiculous. Several critics insist on the leading role of the ridiculed marriage sacrament, and venture possible allusions to the marriage of
Leocadia Zorrilla with her husband and the relationship she had with Goya until the painter's death.
The exhortations (#16), has been interpreted as a reflection on infidelity in which a woman holds a man who is leaving, who in turn is advised or rebuked by a character who appears to be dressed as a priest. The woman, on the other hand, is drawn by the arm of an old woman towards two characters with triple and double faces. Another episode of fleeing or escape is presented in
Poor folly (#11), or at least the flight of a beautiful young woman from a pale character — which has been suggested as a representation of
death — and another with tousled hair. The young woman seeks refuge in what appears to be the porch of a church populated by old women, cripples, and beggars. The background, between light and dark with burnished aquatint, seems unreal, and gives the print a light from another world. Relations between women and old wretches reappear in
Merry folly (#12), where an old man with a huge
truss dances in a circle of women with large breasts. The prints that suggest satire of vice are equally enigmatic and abound in the absence of logical parameters that allow us to decipher the subject of the prints.
Flying folly (#5) shows a strange flying mythological animal or being, perhaps a
hippogriff, whose haunches are ridden by a man and a woman. She seems to struggle as if she has been taken against her will, or she has eloped with her lover and her uneasiness is an allegory of sexual debauchery. Another equine parable, in
Kidnapping horse (#10), shows a woman snatched by a horse's mouth, an animal symbolically associated with sexual potency. ==The works of the series==