This drawing and D4279 are preparatory studies for two etchings dated around 1799 and thus almost contemporary with the Caprichos. Independent landscapes are exceptional in Goya’s oeuvre-although laden with symbolic content, they typically serve as a backdrop or setting for the main event. The plates of these two views, of which Goya printed only a few impressions, were cut in half in 1810 when the artist reused the backs for four scenes in the Disasters of War. The originality of both compositions lies in the threatening presence of the huge crag that fractures the terrain and overwhelms the figures, who seem lost in nature.

Matilla, J.M. Mena M.B., Goya: dibujos. Solo la voluntad me sobra, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2019, p.319 nº 211