Strange coincidence: the actor Francisco Rabal not only plays the old Goya but in real life also died in Bordeaux, in 2001, two years after premiering the film.
This was the third time Francisco Rabal played Francisco de Goya in film and TV, after Nino Quevedo's Goya, historia de una soledad (1971), and Mario Camus's TV series Los desastres de la guerra (1983). Already with Carlos Saura Rabal had already re-enacted one of Goya's most famous paintings in Llanto por un bandido (1964) "Duelo a garrotazos" (Fight with Cudgels) depicting a duel of two commoners fighting in a desolate place trapped knee-deep. It is shown in Museo del Prado.
When preparing the role of Francisco de Goya director Carlos Saura told Francisco Rabal to behave as Luis Buñuel. Buñuel was a common friend of both, having directed Rabal in Nazarin (1959) and Viridiana (1961) as well as a little but unforgettable role in Belle de Jour (1967); and having played a small role in the beginning of Saura's Llanto por un bandido (1964). Rabal used to address Buñuel as his uncle, and Buñuel used to include Saura in his contracts as his substitute in case of dying.