Those specks of dusts
Ca. 1797. Red wash, Red chalk on silk paper. Not on displayIn 1811, the liberal Antonio Puigblanch published in Cadiz The Inquisition Unmasked, in which he interpreted this scene as a criticism of the avarice of the inquisitors. Goya here takes the side of the convict, a victim of the excesses of the religious tribunals and their stalwart public, depicted as a formless crowd. Unlike other preparatory drawings for the Caprichos, made with a red chalk stick, for this image he used a brush to apply the red chalk washes.
Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Santander, Fundación Botín, 2017, p.80 n.37; 176 n.37