Boys playing Cup-and-Ball
1780. Oil on canvas.Not on display
Two boys stand in the open air playing Cup-and-Ball, a game consisting of a stick pointed at one end, a cup at the other end and a ball attached by a cord to the middle of the stick. This ball, when thrown into the air, must either be caught in the cup or inserted onto the point of the stick. The work, conceived as an overdoor, is part of a series of tapestry cartoons intended to decorate the powder room of the Princess of Asturias, the future Queen Maria Luisa, in El Pardo Palace. Other examples from the same series (P005521, P003933, P003934, P003935, P003936, P003534, P003311, P003312, P003313, P003314) are kept in Museo del Prado.
