Plate 35 from ‘Los Caprichos’: She fleeces him (Le descañona.)

Description

In She fleeces him, a woman takes advantage of a man in a close encounter watched by others, turning the idea of fleecing into a visible social transaction. Francisco Goya’s She Fleeces Him joins intimacy to extraction. The surrounding company makes the exchange feel less private, suggesting that the participants belong to a wider world of interested observation.

Published in 1799 as plate 35 of Los Caprichos, the etching and burnished aquatint allow attraction, money and manipulation to occupy the same compact scene. Goya’s title states the action with a bluntness that unsettles any appearance of mutual affection. The print’s humor depends on the gap between what one participant hopes to receive and what the other intends to take. Its force comes from that unequal understanding, where closeness creates opportunity without necessarily creating trust.

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