This preparatory drawing for the etching Capricho 11, Lads Making Ready (G02099 / G00644) is part of The Dreams, a series of twenty-six pen-and-ink drawings that serve as the basis for the Caprichos. Headed by Dream 1. The Author Dreaming, which became number 43 in the definitive and expanded Caprichos. The subject matter was common in that period in compositions employed by Enlightenment critics. The print and drawing have different but similar compositional schemes. As usual, Goya reduced the number of characters from five to three, simplifying the composition in a way that resembles his tapestry cartoon from 1870, The Tobacco Guards. Following that line, it has been suggested that the figures might represent Andalusian smugglers, as contraband tobacco was widely consumed in order to avoid taxes imposed by the royal monopoly on that material. Both the drawing and the print are faithful reflections of social criticism, and the version at the Biblioteca Nacional describes those characters’ lifestyle: Smugglers awaiting passers by near a road are hardly distinguishable from thieves. The Museo del Prado has two print from the first edition of Capricho 11, while a preliminary brush-and-ink drawing from Album B, 88 is part of the collection of the Hispanic Society of America in New York (237 x 147 mm, 1794-95, N^o GW 446/ G I 91). The Proutè Collection in Paris has a state proof from before the additional aquatint (269 x 202 mm, N^o. H 46.I.2), and another state proof from before the additional aquatint was burnished is at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (263 x 169 mm, N^o A 5245). Finally, Calcografía Nacional in Madrid has a steel-plated copper plate from the same series (219 x 154 mm, 431.63 g. N^o. 3437). As to observations: The mark of the plate is visible on the drawing as a result of its tracing on the copper plate (218 x 152 mm), as are 26-27 mm vertical laid lines (Text from: Matilla, J.M.: Goya. Del Sueño al Capricho. Génesis de una serie de estampas, Madrid: Museo del Prado, 1999).