Plate 78 from 'Los Caprichos': Be quick, they are waking up (Despacha, que dispiertan.)

In the pictureIn a room laid in gray aquatint, three grotesque hooded figures gather around a long table. The figure in front wears what looks like a white monk's habit and leans on the table, gripping a long broom diagonally. The figure behind it bends over the table, reaching toward a stack of plates; a dark hooded figure stands at the back left, and an object shaped like a bellows lies at the end of the table. Their faces look like those of old people, or of goblins. "78." is etched at the upper right and "Despacha, que dispiertan." below, and the upper left corner of the sheet has been torn away.

BackgroundThe title means "Be quick, they are waking up." The latter part of Los Caprichos moves into fantasy scenes of witches and goblins, and this plate is commonly interpreted as a scene of little goblins (duendes) who finish the household chores at night while people sleep and hurry away before daybreak. Because of their habits and hoods, some also see it as satire likening these goblins to friars. The technique is etching and burnished aquatint, and the plate measures 21.4 × 15 cm. Unlike the other plates given by Sachs, it came to the museum in 1917 through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund.

Puzzle tipThe figure in front in the white habit is the brightest piece, so fit it first, then extend the long diagonal of the broom crossing its body to establish the picture's diagonal. Next come the straight tabletop and legs and the stacked plates at the right end. The gray wall above is nearly a single tone, so use the pieces with short horizontal hatching at the upper left as reference points. The torn upper-left margin pieces have a different shape and are easy to find. 24 or 48 pieces works well.