Dandy / monkey

See Woman / Snake

A dapper young man stands, leaning on a cane and leaning slightly forward, in front of a mirror that reflects back to him the figure of a large monkey in the same pose as himself. As in Woman / Snake, he turns his gaze away from the mirror.

The elegant young man was identified by René Andioc with the archetypal figure of the currutaco, a kind of petimetre or dandy typical of Spanish society at the end of the 18th century, whose most distinctive features were to be found in his very neat clothing, which Andioc describes as follows: an enormous necktie, shoes without the usual buckle and with a thin, bent toe, tight breeches below the knees, a coat with large lapels, abundant hair divided into several locks with long sideburns, and a walking stick or club.

According to Folke Nordström, this representation symbolises the sanguine temperament, considered typically feminine, which would explain why Goya chose the character of the dandy, a figure subjected to the tortures of fashion and who had something feminine in his character.

The drawing, executed mainly in pen, is characterised by its masterly and modern abbreviated technique.