Flying folly

A monstrous, winged creature with the body of a horse, the head of a carrion bird and powerful claws carries a couple on its back. The man, timelessly dressed in a tight-fitting suit, holds tightly a woman who tries to free herself from her abductor by raising her hands in the air in a gesture similar to that of the young woman in The Abductor Horse, also known as Unbridled Folly. The work exudes the sexual tension of a man driven by lust who abducts a woman and carries her off in a sinister flight into the darkness.

This print also bears witness to Goya's fondness for depicting scenes of flight, as they are constant in both the Caprices and the Follies.

The forms are modelled and shadows are created by means of fine lines, which are not followed by interrupted lines. A dark aquatint creates an almost completely black background against which the outlines of the figures are defined.