The worst is to beg (Lo peor es pedir)

There are some differences between this preparatory drawing and the corresponding print no. 55, The worst is to beg (Lo peor es pedir), lending alternative connotations to some aspects of the print's contents. Goya maintains the figure of the emaciated man wearing a hat who sits in the centre of the composition. However, in the drawing there is a woman next to him whose head is covered; this figure does not appear in the final print. The young woman who walks past the starving people in the drawing is depicted holding the arm of the French soldier in the drawing, reinforcing the link between these two figures. Goya also omits from the print the soldier situated in the background opposite the young woman, as well as the French officer who is pointing right with one hand in the direction of the group of people begging.