Carts to the cemetery

Two men lift the body of a dead young woman onto a cart; one holds her back while the other grabs her ankles. The strength of the two male figures and the manner in which they lift the body onto the cart contrasts with the delicate anatomy of the young woman, who still appears to be full of life, which could indicate her recent death. They are preparing to place her on the heap of corpses on the cart, which, as the title of the engraving indicates, will later be taken to the cemetery. On the right-hand side of the print Goya has depicted a man with his back to the viewer bending down to pick up another corpse, which will also be placed on the cart.

The scene takes place in the street, although we cannot identify which city it is. It could be Madrid where, twice a day, corpses were collected to be taken to the cemeteries.

This engraving should be related to the two previous ones, No. 62, Beds of Death and No. 63, Collected Dead. With these three images the Aragonese painter closes the horrors he has narrated in this second part of the series devoted to the ravages caused by famine on the population to give way to Emphatic Caprices