This is the first album created by Goya, and until now it was thought that he created it in Sanlucar de Barrameda (Cadiz) during the time he spent at the home of the Duchess of Alba. Now it is thought that he might have started it before that, in Madrid, because it contains sketches he used for a portrait he made of the Duchess in Madrid, before going to see her in Cadiz.

All the drawings in this album are drawn in the same way: brush and ink diluted with water (wash drawing). If we mix black ink with water we obtain different shades of grey that give artists greater scope to create transparencies or to distinguish distances or details. Goya used this delicate technique in this album because he was drawing something delicate: women.

He sketched all kinds of women who lived and worked in the Duchess of Alba’s Palace, and he drew them in all kinds of ways. Can you pick out the different types of women?