The concept of flight is present in many of Goya’s prints, from the winged creatures and witches on broomsticks in Los Caprichos (The Caprices) to the men shown here taking flight by means of an ingenious mechanical device. These contraptions might refer to the inventions of Jacob Degen, a Viennese clockmaker whose experiments with constructed wings in the early 1800s were well documented in prints across Europe.

Despite this connection to contemporary events, the strange costumes of the flying men and the setting in an indefinite field defined by aquatint tone give this print an otherworldly character.