Plate 7 from ‘Los Caprichos’ : Even thus he cannot make her out (Ni asi la distingue.)

Description

In Even thus he cannot make her out, a man examines a young woman with an optical aid, bringing scrutiny into an encounter that remains resistant to understanding. Francisco Goya’s Even Thus He Cannot Make Her Out places the wish to judge another person beside the inadequacy of appearances. The instrument promises clarity, but the caption questions whether looking more closely produces knowledge.

Published in 1799 as plate 7 of Los Caprichos, the print draws its wit from the distance between observation and insight. Etching and aquatint give the figures a convincing social presence, allowing the absurdity to emerge within an otherwise recognizable exchange. Goya’s subject concerns the judgments made in courtship and fashionable society. The image remains engaging because its question is unresolved: a sharper view of a face may leave a person’s intentions just as obscure.

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