Duel with Cudgels (Duelo a garratazos)

This painting was located on the left-hand wall of the first floor of the house following The Fates (Las Parcas). The scene features two large-scale, almost monumental figures. The two men are shown at nightfall, trapped knee-deep in the ground, fighting with cudgels. The man on the left - who seems to be the stronger of the two - has blood on his face and chest, while the other raises his left arm to protect his face from his adversary's blow.

The figures are dressed according to Goya's times, their clothing contrasting with the blood that spurts from their injuries. The background is once more a landscape, with a hill that rises up on the right-hand side of the scene. It is striking that there are no fantasy elements to this painting, in contrast to the other murals located in the house.

Recent x-ray studies of the work and their comparison with photographs taken in the 19th century have revealed substantial changes in the scene followed its removal from the wall. The men were not originally buried in earth up to their knees; rather, as Yriarte described, they were shown on their feet in a meadow full of grass.

The first interpretations of the scene generally related it to the rural setting and brutal habits of country people.

The most common reading of the work makes reference to fights between brothers with allusions to Greek mythology, framed in the political context of Spain at the time the painting was produced.