In 1824, Goya moved to Bordeaux, and stayed there in the home of his friend Moratín until he died. In France, in spite of his 75 years, he gradually recovered his spirit and health, and for that reason his drawings regained certain elements of fun.

During the time he lived in Bordeaux, he made two albums at the same time, and he drew both in pencil, as you can see. In the two sketchbooks, we can see drawings about subjects that always interested him, but which he began to draw with even more humour and fantasy. These subjects included priests, bulls, or characters and situations that caught his attention as he was walking along the street.

To interpret what these drawings mean, you can read the inscriptions that Goya wrote on the majority of them. Why do you think that this drawing is called the telegraph? Find out what the first telegraph poles looked like and you’ll see. They made a big impression on Goya.