This haunting etching reveals a surreal and deeply disturbing scene where a man lies ill in bed, overseen by a creature with the head of a donkey dressed in a coat, who appears to hold the man's wrist as if checking his pulse. The title inscribed beneath, "De que mal morira?" – Spanish for "Of what illness will he die?" – adds a chilling layer of existential dread to the image. The artist’s use of sharp, expressive lines and dense shading plays with light and shadow to create an atmosphere thick with foreboding. The almost claustrophobic composition directs the viewer’s gaze sharply onto the bedside duo, highlighting the surreal and grotesque figure and the frail form of the patient in contrast.

The monochromatic palette, relying heavily on stark blacks and grays, enhances the eerie tone, reminiscent of a nightmare or a dark allegory on human folly and suffering. The donkey-headed figure evokes mockery and a sense of absurdity linked to foolishness, a symbolic device often employed by the artist to comment on society’s ills. Historically, this etching belongs to a series known as "Los Caprichos," which exposes human weaknesses and societal corruption in early 19th-century Spain. One can almost hear the clinking of bones under the shroud and feel the silent menace of impending death as the shadow looms in the background. This piece captures the vulnerability of life and the dark humor with which Goya portrays the irrationality and cruelty of fate.