This is what reading is all about

A grotesque old man is sitting on a low chair with his legs crossed. One of his feet is placed on a brazier while the knee that is raised supports the book he seems to be reading, although his eyes are closed. Behind him a servant is sprinkling powder on his head while another kneeling man is putting on his shoes.

The scene is very dark, and it is even difficult to make out what the two servants look like, while the figure of the old man pretending to read captures all the light in the engraving. The painter has left a large, lighter surface on his clothes and on his white-haired head. The aquatint used is two grains of different thicknesses. Goya obtains a wide variety of tones, although in later editions the aquatint and pale tones gradually disappear.

Ayala's manuscript notes about this engraving that "the ministers wait until the last minute to find out about business. This one has his hair combed, is shod and sleeps. Who wastes time? This meaning is reiterated in the other two manuscripts, the one in the Prado Museum and the one in the National Library.

In this print Goya openly criticises the frivolity and ignorance of the upper classes and the country's leaders. He describes their approach to culture as superficial, as a mere appearance, and as a low priority in their lives.

This type of reproach is also found in some satirical pamphlets of the time, such as Benito Cano's The Inoculation of the Understanding (1789), which satirises those who own books but do not read them.