Plate 29 from ‘Los Caprichos’: That certainly is being able to read (Esto si que es leer.)

Description

In That certainly is being able to read, a man reads while attendants dress him, presenting the appearance of intellectual occupation alongside a comfortable dependence on other people’s labor. Francisco Goya’s That Certainly Is Being Able to Read makes praise sound distinctly ironic. The reader’s absorption seems to excuse him from noticing the practical activity that sustains his position.

Plate 29 of Los Caprichos, published in 1799, uses etching and burnished aquatint to give the arrangement a recognizable social presence. Goya’s caption asks whether the outward act of reading should be mistaken for understanding or accomplishment. The scene’s wit lies in its division of effort: one person displays cultivation while others perform the necessary work. Its broader interest concerns the distance between a learned appearance and an awareness of the human relationships that make such leisure possible.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Goya collection.