Focus on The Madhouse and discuss the Composition.
The painting is marked by its Piranesian, claustrophobic architecture, the painting's only light source being a barred window high up on the wall, meant to repress the figures below. These figures are distinct characters and borderline caricatures, all engaged in grotesque and pitiable behaviour – one wears what seems to be a wild-feathered headdress, another is fighting in a tricorne hat, another makes a gesture of blessing to the viewer, whilst many of the others are naked. Some of the figures can also be interpreted allegorically, as a gallery of parodies of powerful figures in society, such as the clergy or the army (represented by the man in the tricorne). It develops the topic of 'the world of dreams' (Spanish: 'mundo al revés') and is related to Goya's engravings series Los disparates.
Los disparates Piranesian caricature tricorne