General folly (preparatory drawing)

Preparatory drawing for General folly.

Although it is difficult to find any resemblance to the print, the link comes from the confusing, heaped-up composition achieved with the gouache stains applied in instantaneous strokes. The anguished and disconcerting mass of the engraving begins in this preparatory drawing, in which the different figures that make it up must be guessed.

On the left are two female figures that are omitted from the print. One of them is shown lying on the ground as if dead and the other is leaning over him. These are replaced by the figure holding the rapier and the one facing her. On the right is the woman with the cats, but without them, although she seems to be holding a lump with her left arm, as well as the cleric who kneels before her, although very blurred and almost unrecognisable. In the background, a half-naked woman appears to be supported by other figures, and another female figure, arranged obliquely, wears a headdress. In the background, angry blotches rise up like trunks.

On the reverse of the sheet is another drawing by Goya, possibly preparatory to a nonsense that was never engraved, entitled The vain peacock.