The Woodcutters

This piece was made to decorate the antechamber of the Prince and Princess of Asturias at the Royal Palace of El Pardo, and was presented at the Royal Factory on January 24, 1780. This cartoon is kept at the Prado Museum and was designed for door tapestries, of which 5 were woven.

The cartoon "...shows 3 men cutting wood. Two have axes in their hands and the third is collecting wood from the mountain scrubland. It is 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall, and its value is 1,000 Spanish reals." ("... repres.ta tres hombres cortando leña dos con achas en la mano y el otro recogiendola el Monte vestido de matorrales, su medida de ancho quatro pies, alto cinco pies, su balor mil r.s". Francisco de Goya).

As well as the tapestry at the Cathedral Museum, the National Heritage collection has another 3 wall hangings of "The Woodcutters." One is at the Royal Palace in Madrid, another is at El Escorial, and the third is at El Pardo. The whereabouts of the tapestry that became part of the collection of Simón de Aragorri, Marquis of Iranda, are unknown.