This preparatory drawing for the etching of Capricho 16. For Heaven’s sake: And it was his Mother (G02104) is part of the Dreams series, which consists of twenty-six pen drawings that form the basis of The Caprichos. A customary subject, this vehicle for enlightened criticism marks the initial phase of Goya’s creative process. Both the drawing and the completed print share the same composition, and the subject is known through hand-written comments on copies at the Biblioteca Nacional and the Calcografía Nacional. The first reads: A vice-ridden daughter who becomes a whore and later fails to recognize her mother, who may be asking alms. The second manuscript is similar: Vice and the dalliances of a bad woman who goes so far as to pay no attention to her mother, who is busy begging. Clearly, Goya is engaged in social criticism. The Museo del Prado has a first edition of Capricho 16 (G02104), while the Biblioteca Nacional has a preliminary drawing from Album B (no. 6) made with a brush and India ink (1794-95, No. B- 1262). Calcografía Nacional in Madrid has a steel-plated copper plate from the same series (202 x 151 mm, 293.63 g. No. 3442). The plate mark visible on the drawing reveals that it was used to transfer the image to the copper plate (218 x 153 mm). The paper has vertical laid lines, and pencil marks are visible on the back (Text drawn from Matilla, J. M. and others: El libro de los Caprichos. Francisco de Goya: dos siglos de interpretaciones, 1799-1999. Catálogo de los dibujos, pruebas de estado, láminas de cobre y estampas de la primera edición, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 1999. pp. 21, 124).