Rissa alla Venta Nueva

In 1777 Goya was 31 and not yet the dark prophet of his later work; he was a young painter with a steady court job, turning out full-size designs for the royal tapestry workshop in Madrid. This one shows a brawl outside a rough tavern on the edge of the city, in a district known for its muleteers, drivers and gamblers. He finished it that August, and the tapestry woven from it was meant for the dining room of the prince and princess of Asturias, the future Carlos IV and his wife, at the Escorial palace. Look on the ground between the fighting men and you find the cause: a hand of cards, thrown down.