# The Straw Manikin [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de]() - Date: 1801-1850 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 267 x 160 cm ## Commentary This belongs to Goya's last suite of tapestry cartoons, the only series made for Charles IV after Goya's appointment as Court Painter. The tapestries were to decorate one of the apartments in the Escorial and the subjects, chosen by the King, were to be 'rural and jocose'. Goya had delayed making the sketches as he objected to receiving his instructions from Maella instead of from the Lord Chamberlain. He eventually submitted, since he did not, as he said, want to appear proud. After the naturalism of some of the earlier cartoons, the stiffness of the figures and their artificial expressions come as a surprise. The human figures are as puppet-like as the straw manikin they are tossing in a blanket. A light-hearted carnival tradition here assumes a cruel dimension in a scene that shows what strong women can do with a weak man. ## Related artworks - [A Lunatic behind Bars]() - [A Pilgrimage to San Isidro \(detail\)]() - [A Pilgrimage to San Isidro \(detail\)]() - [A Pilgrimage to San Isidro]() - [A Prison Scene]() - [A Procession of Flagellants]() - [A Village Bullfight]() - [A Walk in Andalusia]() - [Allegory of the City of Madrid]() - [As far back as his grandfather]() - [Asmodea]() - [Atropos \(The Fates\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()