Cruel Masks

CRUEL MASKS

Francisco Goya

“Goya captures the universal nightmare of being cornered by creeps at a party. A woman tilts her face skywards with the unmistakable expression of someone praying for divine intervention, while two masked figures hover beside her with predatory interest. One wears an animal mask with pointed ears that makes no pretense at humanity; the other sports a frozen leer that might be painted plaster or might be flesh – either way, deeply unsettling. Perhaps Goya understood that when these jerks drop their social masks, what you see underneath is just another mask, and behind that, probably something that was never quite human to begin with.”

Sour cherry, black pepper, tobacco smoke, black leather, cracked porcelain, and a smear of lampblack.