The Esparto Weaver who cannot manage to undress, and giving sound advice to a lamp, sets fire to the house
1796 - 1797. Pencil, Iron gall ink on laid paper Not on displayThis preparatory drawing for the etching Capricho 18, And His House Catches Fire (G02106) is one of the twenty-six pen-and-ink drawings from the Dreams series that are the basis for The Caprichos in its earliest form. The print and preparatory drawing are practically identical except for the size of the oil lamp, which is larger in the former. Information from manuscripts related to The Caprichos explain the subject as a criticism of the drunkenness of esparto weavers. The version at the Museo del Prado reads: He could not manage to remove his breeches or to cease speaking with the oil lamp, until the town firemen revived him. Such is the power of wine! And the notation on the copy at Calcografía Nacional adds: The weak man hangs his lamp from the straw seat and runs naked from the house, tying his breeches as it burns. The Museo del Prado has a series of works related to Dream 24 (G02106 / G00645), and there is also a preliminary brush-and-India ink drawing from Album B, 86 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (236 x 145 mm, 1794-95, no. 63.984b), as well as a steel-plated copper plate from the same series at Calcografía Nacional in Madrid (219 x 154 mm, 443.10 g. No. 3444). The mark of the plate is visible on the drawing as a result of its tracing on the copper plate (218 x 151 mm), as are the vertical laid lines (Text 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, 134).