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The thirteen sketches represented in the painting were made for tapestry cartoons.
The general recovery of Spain in mid-eighteenth century, manifested on the one hand by the construction of the new royal palace in Madrid, the modernizing of other royal buildings, the organization of the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Bárbara, and on the other hand by the creation of the San Fernando academy of Fine Arts, favoured the spectacular emergence of a generation of painters who filled the second half of the eighteenth century. Foremost among these was Francisco Bayou, closely linked to Anton Raphael Mengs.
Bayeu's painting in the Prado shows sketches for tapestry cartoons painted by his brother Ramón for the tapestry factory. The scenes depict customs and people of different ages and social classes: children and adolescents at play, the gallantry of majos and courtiers, and itinerant vendors.
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