Nothing Could Be Done About It (Nohubo remedio), 1797-98 (etching and aquatint)

Plate 24 from Los Caprichos. This etching could be classified 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” 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.