One Cannot Look at This (No se puede mirar)

Goya ups the rhythm of The Disasters of War in this print with the depiction of a scene imbued with a strong, dramatic intensity that contrasts with the calm of previous prints in the series, which featured wounded people being assisted or corpses. The work shows the interior of a cave where various figures are going to be executed. On the left, a woman prostrates herself face down on the floor with her hands clasped on her head, while another covers her face and in front of them yet another woman stretches out her arms, her chest thrust out towards the enemy. In the middle of the composition there is a figure covered from head to foot holding a child in their arms. By their side is a kneeling man who brings his hands together in a gesture of prayer. In the centre of the foreground, another man begs for this torment to end. As in the case of print no. 15, And it can't be helped, here we see only the very ends of the bayonets that appear in a row in the right-hand side of the print.

The French soldiers are at the mouth of the cave where they have surprised the Spanish people they are about to execute. Once again, as in the case of other prints in this series, what should be a place of shelter that protects man has become a trap. The cave is a place that has hidden these people from their enemy for some time but has now become a dead end with no escape route. The short distance between the French and the Spanish figures means that they have to look at each other face-to-face.

The most striking figure in the print is the woman at the centre of the composition: facing death, she displays her torso, spreading out her arms in the form of a cross. This gesture is echoed in the central figure in the printThird of May 1808, who also wears a white shirt.