Majo with a Guitar

"Majo with a Guitar" was presented by Goya on January 24, 1780. It was for a door tapestry on the northern wall of the antechamber of the Prince and Princess of Asturias at the Royal Palace of El Pardo. Goya himself described the cartoon as follows: "a man sits with his guitar, singing, while 2 people behind him listen in, and another can be seen in the distance. It is as wide and tall as the previous one, and its value is 1,000 Spanish reals."

In the cathedral collection tapestry the original scene has been simplified: there are no background characters, but the rest is practically the same. A "majo," or Madrid dandy, can be seen playing and singing—possibly a sad love song. The protagonist's loneliness is made more intense here, because of the absence of any other characters.

As is usual in these works, and as a result of the tapestry technique, the colors have become more vivid, while at the same time being lost in the shifts and play between light and shadow in the canvas.