Thin yarn

Three old women with gaunt, caricatured faces are depicted in this engraving. One of them, the one in the foreground, is seated on a chair and is spinning. Somewhat further back, an older woman with a deformed face is also seated and gazes into the void with an absorbed air. Finally, a third female figure appears in profile, holding a broom in one of her hands. In the background, on the right-hand side of the engraving, there are ropes hanging from the ceiling from which children, probably foetuses, are hanging.

The upper part of the body of the first old woman is intensely illuminated and contrasts with the dark atmosphere created by the use of two aquatints. The drypoint is used to accentuate the yarn and burin on the neck and back of the spinner in the foreground, as well as the legs of the chair.

Three manuscripts on The Caprices coincide in explaining this engraving as a depiction of a henchwomen plotting something, although they could also be witches. With this print Goya thus began the series of images devoted to witchcraft and superstition. This theme had already been dealt with by the artist in the series of paintings he produced for the Duke and Duchess of Osuna around 1798. In one of them, entitled Aquelarre, Goya depicted human foetuses hanging, in this case from a rod, which are also present in Caprice no. 43, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. It is possible that they play an important role in the incantations that these women prepare or "spin", as the title of the engraving suggests. It has also been suggested that the three women are the Fates - Nona, Decima and Morta - who weave the thread of life, probably of the children hanging from the ceiling, from birth to death.

If we relate this engraving to the following one, no. 45, Much to suck, especially with the explanations provided in the manuscripts, we can conclude that the three old women are engaged in abortive practices. It is possible that this has to do with the use of children's corpses in spells or witchcraft.