The gaunt figure in this etching, which opens Los Desastres de la Guerra, kneels with arms outstretched, seeking answers or simply abandoning himself to an unknown future. Although it would ultimately serve as the frontispiece for the series, this allegorical scene was composed after Spain’s defeat of the French in a war that lasted from 1808 to 1814.

The hopeless man may represent Goya, who at the time was ill, recently widowed, and struggling against the tyranny of the reinstated Spanish government. The war made printmaking materials difficult to obtain and Goya was often forced to reuse his copperplates. An earlier etched design is visible here amid the dense lines in the background of the print, directly above the figure.