Well thrown is

In the centre of the print, a young woman pulls up the stocking covering her leg, which we can see up to the knee. She leans on the bed and places her foot on a brazier. All this takes place under the gaze of a completely covered old woman, of whom we can only see her aged face. This situation is taking place in a dark environment in which the light is concentrated on the young woman's light-coloured clothes and on the top of the old woman's head.

Ayala's manuscript explains this scene by saying that "there can be nothing more thrown down than a harlot. Aunt Curra knows very well how to stretch her stockings". In the Prado Museum's manuscript it is commented that "Aunt Curra is no fool. She knows very well that it is good for stockings to be well stretched". Finally, the manuscript in the National Library states that "a prostitute stretches her stocking to show off her beautiful leg, and there is nothing more flimsy than her".

In this case Goya has played on the double meaning of the title to criticise prostitution, which became a common practice by which young women were able to prosper economically. The painter openly declares his view of prostitution as a practice that diminishes women's dignity.

This image must have inspired Charles Baudelaire (Paris, 1821-Paris, 1867) in Les Phares from Les fleurs du mal (1857), as well as an article on Goya in which he says: "(...) these white and slender Spaniards who wash and groom themselves with old sempiternas for the sabat and for prostitution at night, sabat of civilisation".

This engraving by Goya is clearly reminiscent of the print In the Tavern by William Hogarth (London, 1697-1764) in which a prostitute on the right-hand side of the print pulls up a stocking. In this case the bustling atmosphere of the brothel differs from the more intimate scene depicted by the Aragonese painter, although the attitude of the women is very similar in both cases.

It should also be noted that with this type of image Goya advocates the scenes of the life of prostitutes painted by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (Albi, 1864-Malromé, 1901). Both were concerned with capturing the intimacy of these women, although in the case of the French painter his works are free of any criticism.