Prado manuscript: ‘They are persecuting to death this saintly lady. After having condemned her to death they save her triumphantly. Everything is merited and if they are doing this to affront her, they are wasting their time. No one can put to shame someone who has done nothing of which to be ashamed.’

‘The last line of the Prado text would classify this etching as still another attack on the legal system (or lack of same) of the Inquisition. The Ayala text is even more direct: ‘Leather-bound: she is poor and ugly. How could she be helped?’. The ‘leather-bound’ beginning to the Ayala text may refer to ‘in legal books’. This also could signify that, with the unfair system of justice, by giving money or with more beauty (and thus with the possibility of giving herself away) a ‘solution’ to the lady's problems could have been found. Finally, it is to be noted that Jovellanos, in his brief period as Minister of Justice and Religion, attempted to diminish the power of the Inquisition. In this effort, Jovellanos was unsuccessful and, as Goya's title suggests: ‘Nothing could be done’.

Johnson, R. S., Francisco Goya, Los Caprichos, R.S. Johnson Fine Art, Chicago, 1992, p. 74.