'Nightmare'; an old woman carrying figures on her back; page 20 from the Witches and Old Women Album (D)

In the pictureIn the middle of the white sheet stands an old woman in a skirt, and a figure rides on her shoulders with its legs dangling forward. The rider bares its teeth in a grin and has in turn slung a thin, naked figure crosswise over its own shoulders. The topmost figure has its head thrown back and its limbs hanging limp. The old woman's face is half visible between the legs of the figure above. Gray and black ink was brushed on quickly, and there is a dark shadow at the right beneath her feet. "20" is written at top center and "22." at upper right, and at the bottom "Pesadilla" appears beside words that have been struck through.

BackgroundAccording to the Met's records, this is page 20 of the Witches and Old Women Album (the album classified as D), drawn around 1819–23. In these years Goya, who had lost his hearing, lived in his house outside Madrid and made brush drawings in private albums instead of prints. This scene of a carried figure carrying yet another is read as a picture of nightmare as a crushing burden, but its exact meaning has not been established. Traces also remain of a first title being struck out and replaced with "Nightmare." The materials are brush, carbon black and gray ink, wash, and touches of black chalk, and it measures 23.4 × 14.4 cm. It entered the collection in 1919 through the Rogers Fund.

Puzzle tipMost of the sheet is white, so the inked pieces are the key. Fit the old woman's dark upper body and skirt and the shadow at her feet first, and the lower part will stand. Next come the grinning face, the pale limbs of the topmost figure, and the ink lines that separate the two. The numbers "20" and "22." at the top, and the "Pesadilla" inscription and round stamp pieces at the bottom, mark positions within the blank paper. Fill the remaining white pieces from the edges. 24 pieces is recommended.