The Drunks (Los borrachos)

This painting shows two men, each wearing a hat and leaning on a table. They each have a glass of wine in their hands and, going by the expressions on their faces, appear to be quite drunk. The face of the figure on the left-hand side has been captured in a very caricatured manner, almost as if he were wearing a mask.

Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner points out that, although this is a dark, almost monochromatic painting, the purplish highlights on the protagonists' clothes, as well as the red of the wine and the flushed faces of the two drinkers, all afford a note of colour. The dark nature of the painting is largely due to the fact that the head of the drinker on the left-hand side is directly in front of and blocking the scene's dim source of light.

This depiction of a popular theme could be related to the costumbrista scenes painted by Frans Hals (Antwerp, 1580-Haarlem, 1666). Those optimistic paintings, set in cosy, intimate surroundings, have here been interpreted by Goya in a more satirical tone, with the Aragonese artist reflecting something of the rather sinister appearance of these two drunk men.