Fatal misfortune

On verso of the folio is Dream. Of lies and inconstancy.

In the centre of the print, a woman dressed in light clothes holds her hands to her head and clutches her hair. We cannot see her face, but we can intuit her pained expression. Next to her, an old woman weeps, wiping her eye with her hand, while in the foreground, on the left side of the print, a man in a ponytail, short coat and stockings caresses a small barking dog. Behind the group passes a maid who raises her arms, also in despair; her figure appears in profile and is heavily blackened by the aquatint.

Goya used a single aquatint; later he made some drypoint and burin retouches on the female figure holding her hands to her head.

It is possible that the Aragonese painter depicted in this engraving one of the many whims of the Duchess of Alba, whose fickle character was well known.

No preparatory drawing for this engraving has come down to us, although it could be related to drawing no. 91 of Cuaderno B or Madrid entitled Fatal misfortune, The whole house is clamouring because the Perrica has not worked. For Enrique Lafuente Ferrari, the work we are dealing with here shows some similarities with drawing no. 94 She has the car towed away, her hair dishevelled and pulled out and kicks because Abbé Pichurris told her in his ears that it was discoloured, in which the Duchess of Alba is also shown combing her hair with a gentleman in the background.