"El pelado" from Ybides
1812 - 1823. Grey-brown wash on laid paper.Not on display
Manuel Millán, nicknamed El pelado from Ybides or Ibdes, a village in the Calatayud region, was a bloodthirsty Aragonese bandit from the second half of the seventeenth century. He was famous during Goya´s time due to the printed ballads recounting his atrocities. This highly dramatic drawing, achieved through the use of intense and very expressive brush strokes, depicts the murder of a victim tied up in the middle of a field, subtly suggested by a tree and the horizon line.
Because of its technique and theme, this Sketchbook F seems to have been produced around the same time as Sketchbook C, roughly between 1812 and 1820. Despite its thematic variety, the Sketchbook presents a consistent ambiance, where representations of misery, tragedy or violence predominate. Based on events more or less real, but not always contemporary, Goya provides a panorama of the oppressive atmosphere of the time of the Peninsular War and the immediate post-war period.
Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Santander, Fundación Botín, 2017, p.103 n.56; 187-188 n.56
