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A preparatory sketch by Francisco Goya for his series The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters of 1797-99. Goya was the court painter in Spain until he began losing his hearing and going insane. His "black paintings," while often interpreted to be about his inner-darkness, was undoubtedly also about the atrocities of war in which Spain engaged at the time and made all involved miserable.

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A second preparatory sketch for The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. Goya has obviously replaced the human with animal metaphors to show how, when we allow ourselves (or in Goya's time, the government) to be controlled by passions and appetites, it makes monsters of us all.

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On the desk at the left of the etching, in Spanish is written, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters," which is the theme of the upcoming posts throughout October: what do the different monsters symbolize about our psyche? What role do they serve in helping us explore who we are and our moral dimensions as a culture? What is it about our modern culture which produces are modern monsters?

I am watching Ides of March this weekend; sign up for the feed on twitter to get my comments as I am coming out of the theater so you know to catch it or miss it! Monster month postings begin immediately with I Am Legend starring Will Smith (hopefully posted Friday) and a tribute to the director who gave pop culture the phrase, "I see dead people." Then it will be a week of vampires: what they mean, how they have culturally evolved and why! Thanks to everyone posting The Fine Art Diner to Facebook and Twitter and to all who just keep coming back!