What a Tailor Can Do 18th-19th century

Curator: Here we have Francisco Goya's print, "What a Tailor Can Do," housed in the Harvard Art Museums. It’s striking, isn’t it? Editor: Yes, a towering, cloaked figure looms over supplicants, and my first impression is of masquerade, of hidden power playing out a bizarre ritual. Curator: Goya was deeply critical of the social and political structures of his time. In this print, he seems to be commenting on the inflated status that appearances and outward adornment can create. The tailor, in effect, makes the man...or perhaps, the monster. Editor: The costuming is certainly central. Look at the way the fabric drapes— suggesting an emptiness, a constructed authority. Note too, the angels hovering above: their association is not with God, but with this figure. I wonder what Goya is suggesting about the symbols of power here? Curator: Exactly. He’s asking us to consider the illusion of power and the role of social performance in maintaining it. The print seems to question the very nature of authority itself. Editor: A potent reminder that what we see on the surface often conceals deeper, perhaps darker, truths. It holds a rather enduring message.