Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Fuendetodos 1746–1828 Bordeaux)
Tambourine Player, ca. 1812–20
Brush and brown wash on cream laid paper
8 1/16 × 5 5/8 in. (205 × 141 mm)
Promised Gift from the Collection of Elizabeth and Jean-Marie Eveillard
Photo Joseph Coscia Jr.
Around 1794, Goya began to record drawings in small sketchbooks that functioned as visual journals. The eight albums of this kind that existed at Goya’s death were later renamed with letters (A to H). Between 1812 and 1820, Goya compiled what is now known as Album F, also called the Sepia Album or the Images of Spain Album. All the drawings in Album F represent individuals or groups of figures usually with minimal background detail. This sheet depicts a man precariously balanced on his proper left foot. With his right hand, he lifts a tambourine, and both hands hold castanets. He has been described as a town crier but is most likely simply a street tambourine player.