Gatesque pantomime

The preparatory drawing for engraving no. 73, The Gatesque Pantomime, from The Disasters of War, shows certain differences with respect to the print. The cat can be seen here, not on a flight of stairs as in the engraving, but on a table or a board. Next to the cat, Goya has sketched the owl which, in the print, flies while seeming to say something in the cat's ear. In the sketch, Goya preferred to depict the owl on a stick with its wings outstretched. In this way, the bird occupies the central position of the engraving, thus playing down the importance of the cat and the friar in the lower left-hand corner, somewhat more towards the back of the print.

When he tackled the execution of print no. 73, Goya made changes that clearly altered the meaning of the work. In short, he increased the importance of the cat and the monk in the scene.