Abstract This article deals with the practice of the “burla” in the court of Austrias (1563–1700) in connection with beings suffering from physical or psychic defects. The study concerns the artistic and mental representations of these “monstrous” beings in some paintings of the Golden century. The figures of the dwarf, the madman and the jester in particular are studied here. This question was approached especially by an esthetic point of view, we propose here an ethical, philosophic and political prospect, on this question of the “burla” in connection with the monstrousness.