The carnivorous vulture

In the centre of the composition a giant bird, a vulture as the title of the engraving states, runs in terror with its wings outstretched. Behind him a peasant threatens him with a pitchfork and further back we see a large crowd watching the scene.

This image is linked by its formal treatment with the previous one, No. 75,  Charlatans' Parade and the following one, No. 77, The Rope Breaks. In all three, the compositional axis is a large figure extending its upper limbs.

As with the rest of the Emphatic Caprices, this engraving is very difficult to interpret. In some cases it has been thought that the vulture could be an allusion to the French army that was expelled from Spain by the people and, therefore, a reference to the end of the war. The animal is somewhat battered, with no tail or feathers, perhaps as a result of the harshness of the confrontation. The figures in the background who are fleeing in terror could be French soldiers who deserted.

Nigel Glendinning relates this engraving to a poem by Juan Bautista de Arriaza (Madrid, 1770-Madrid, 1837), Prophecy of the Pyrenees (1808), which was widely circulated during the War of Independence on account of its patriotic content. The Englishman was able to perceive certain analogies between the engraving of The Carnivorous Vulture and the stanzas of the Prophecy of the Pyrenees in which the following is said: "And flee among your warriors, / Like a band of butcher vultures". The English historian also believes that Goya may have been inspired by the work Gli animali parlanti (1801) by Giambattista Casti (Viterbo or Acquapendente, 1724-Paris, 1803).

One of the visual sources to which the Aragonese painter may have had recourse for this print is the engraving by Stefano della Bella (Florence, 1610-Florence, 1664) The Ostrich Hunt (ca.1650, Library degli Intronati, Siena) in which the animal with its wings spread out appears in the foreground. Della Bella closely captures the anguish of the animal about to be captured in a hunting scene, in which, until then, this aspect was completely irrelevant.