The Plaza de la Provincia, Madrid, with a crowd watching an elegant couple dance, a fountain emblazoned with the Royal Arms of Spain and the dome of the Church of San Isidro seen beyond

Primarily an architect and an interior decorator, Dugourc produced many designs for costumes and furniture. At the Revolution he established a wallpaper factory and another for playing cards. In 1799 he was asked to design a carriage for King Charles IV of Spain and in 1800 went to Madrid to deliver it. He stayed there for fourteen years, becoming First Architect to the King. The invasion of Spain by the French ruined him and he returned to France shortly after 1814.
Another similarly finished drawing by Dugourc is in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (U. van de Sandt, Dessins de la Donation Mathias Polakovits à L'école des Beaux-Arts, exhib. cat., Paris, 1989, no. 121).
We are very grateful to Santiago Saenz Samaniego of the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, for identifying the location of the present drawing.