Capricho 5, Two of a Kind is part of The Caprichos. The subject matter was common in depictions of that period. At first glance, the preparatory drawing might seem to be a simple genre scene—a lady being courted by a gentleman while two older women converse behind them—but the upper-class appearance of both the woman’s clothing (a mantilla and black shawl, a silk lace garment covering her head and shoulders; and a long, pleated skirt), and that of her suitor (a frock-coat, hat and short sword), indicate that nothing is what it seems. Despite the fact that the scene takes place outdoors, probably on Madrid’s Paseo del Prado—a customary meeting place for that city’s society in the 18^th century, when strolling had become a new form of socializing—Goya’s critical intentions extend beyond a mere depiction of courtship.

Here, Goya uses light to draw the eye to what he considers most relevant: the malicious laughter of the two old women (in the print, they are actually pointing their fingers, and wear a rosary that identifies them as procuresses), the woman being courted—the light brings out one side of her face, her breasts, elbow, fan and foot—and the man’s face. These procuresses were intermediaries for prostitution and lascivious communication. The woman who openly exposes herself holds the fan in her left hand, which signifies approach, and turns the tip of her foot outwards in what is identified by a manuscript from 1807 as a vulgar prostitute’s gesture.

Dressed like ladies, these women made contact on the Paseo del Prado and rendered service on the nearby side streets. Here, the man is one of the fashionable fops ridiculed in poetry of that period. A bon vivant, he is actually impoverished, as is confirmed by the drawing’s caption: he hasn’t a penny. The handwritten commentary to Capricho no. 5 at the Museo del Prado clarifies the Enlightenment approach to this scene, insisting on a gender equality quite modern in its conception in light of the traditional blame assigned to women: both their vices stem from the same poor upbringing, and wherever men are perverse, women will be so as well. The young woman in this print is just as intelligent as the dandy who is chatting her up. As for the two old women: each is as vile and detestable as the other. This equality is reflected by the title of Capricho 5, Two of a Kind, which is drawn from a 17^th-century proverb, one of whose versions in Spanish translates as: The whore and the thug: two of a kind. The Museo del Prado has a first edition of Capricho 5 (G02093), while the Biblioteca Nacional has a preliminary brush-and-India ink drawing from Album B, 5 or the Madrid Album. There is a state proof prior to the application of aquatint in the Rosenwald collection at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. (257 x 183 mm, H 40. I.1), and there is also a steel-plated copper plate from the same series at Calcografía Nacional in Madrid (200 x 151 mm, 341.64 g. No. 3431). The mark of the plate is visible on the drawing as a result of its tracing on the copper plate (200 x 151 mm), as are vertical laid lines (Text from: Blas, J., Sueño 19. Las viejas se salen de risa porque saben que él no lleva un cuarto, in Matilla, J. M. and Mena Marqués, M. (dir.), Goya: Luces y Sombras, Barcelona: Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona: Obra Social La Caixa-Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado, 2012, p. 118, no. 16).