Ramón Bayeu, the younger brother of Francisco Bayeu, received similar training to his brother and won first prize in a competition organised by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in 1766. Beginning in 1775, he worked under the direction of his brother, producing cartoons for tapestries with genre scenes for the Royal Tapestry Manufactory. A skilful painter of frescoes, he was employed in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza where, along with his brother, he decorated three domes in 1781. He was also responsible for some of the frescoes on the ceilings of the palace of El Pardo. As a painter of religious subjects, he also shared some commissions with his brother-in-law, Francisco de Goya, such as the Church of Santa Ana in Valladolid in 1787. He joined his brother and Goya in decorating the parish church of Valdemoro in 1790, as well as in various religious institutions in Aragon and Madrid. Bayeu was much influenced by his brother´s work, on whose drawings he must certainly have relied on many occasions. He stands out above all for the coherent sense of reality that shines forth from his paintings, and especially his tapestry cartoons, which are full of vitality and reveal a delight in the everyday. These works are remarkable for their imaginativeness, for the skill of his scintillating brushwork, and for the verisimilitude of the figures and scenes he depicts, making Ramón Bayeu the most lively of the artists working in the Royal Tapestry Manufactory with the sole exception of Goya. The present canvas belongs to a series of tapestry cartoons executed for the royal residences during the reign of Charles III (1759-88). Their subject matter was taken from a repertoire of scenes from the daily life of commoners, according to the artistic principles of Anton Raphael Mengs, who was responsible for coordinating the activities of the various painters on these projects. In 1870, the tapestries that had been the property of the Royal Tapestry Manufactory, and were at the time stored in the Royal Palace in Madrid, were transferred to the Museo del Prado, where most are now housed. Some disappeared before they were moved, as is the case with the tapestries by Goya in Toledo (Ohio), Chicago, Edinburgh and so on. This painting depicts what had been a common scene for centuries in Europe: an itinerant, blind busker accompanied by a young boy who served as his guide but who could also help to attract an audience. Here the scene is completed by a little dog doing acrobatic tricks, and the three are working to earn a few coins on which to survive. The anecdote is presented in the foreground and is situated in a field, perhaps near where a pilgrimage or a fair is being celebrated, in which it would be possible to entertain an audience that was not very demanding and eager for amusement. The musical instruments of such groups were typically limited to a hurdy-gurdy and castanets (or slapsticks), which would serve to accompany the many ditties that such musicians stored in their memory. The performers would travel from town to town in search of a living that often proved difficult to make, for they depended on the generosity of the audiences who watched and listened to such trios as this one. Their clothing, modest and worn, is characteristic of the epoch, though it also seems almost timeless in its own way, to the degree that its sources may be found in the remote past, ever since the dispossessed have exercised their art in popular festivals and gatherings (Luna, J. J.: Portrait of Spain. Masterpieces from the Prado, Queensland Art Gallery-Art Exhibitions Australia, 2012, p. 184).