Universal language (1st dream)

Between 1796 and 1797 he produced a series of drawings known as the Dreams, some of which have their starting point in the Notebook B or Madrid Album, in which some of the definitive prints of the Caprices series are defined with absolute fidelity. These drawings were made in pen and then transferred to copper, as the traces of the plate on the paper show, thus serving as a reference for the subsequent etching. This whole process demonstrates Goya's meticulous way of working when producing a series like the Caprices , starting from an idea sketched with brushstrokes, refining and defining the drawing to turn it into a preparatory drawing to be reproduced in the prints.

It was common practice at the time to use dreams as a means of expressing the world under the veil of the artist's imagination, without reference to concrete reality. Likewise, far from depicting specific characters or real situations, these prints are considered to be the fruit of the author's originality.

This is drawing number 1 in the series Dreams, which gives rise to Caprice 43. The Dream of Reason Produces Monsters.

The composition is more simplified than that of the preceding preparatory drawing. He eliminated the copper plate, the paint box and the faces, which were born of his imagination, as well as the donkey and the dog. 

Goya portrays himself in the same pose on a simpler table without any tools on it. The title is written on his forehead, and below the drawing is an insiption explaining the meaning of the drawing.

In the upper left corner is a large arc of light emerging from the artist's head, next to it mucielagos and owls flying in the darkness, among which a larger bat with its wings spread out stands out. Next to Goya is the lynx that can be seen in the print, but not the black cat. 

It shows traces of having been transferred to copper.