The School Scene (La Letra con Sangre Entra)

This canvas is one of the small works inspired by the series of cartoons for tapestries, including the six Children's Games (Juegos de Niños) paintings for the Royal Tapestry Factory (Real Fábrica de Santa Bárbara) in Madrid.

The enlightened Francisco Goya criticized the defective education given to children from a young age. He also explored this subject in some of his Los caprichos prints (3, 4, 25, 79, and 80). X-rays of the canvas show it was reused, having first been a preparatory painting for the Regina Martyrum dome at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.