One can’t tell why (No se puede saber por qué)

Goya returns to the theme depicted in the previous print, no. 34, On account of a knife (Por una navaja), although in this case the scene shows a mass execution. The compositional space is occupied by a group of men executed by garrotte. All the men's hands are clasped around crucifixes and they wear hats bearing more crosses. Almost all of them have the weapon for which they have been convicted hanging around their necks, excepting the third and last men on the right. Goya wishes to draw the viewer's attention to this detail in the title of the print: we cannot know why these figures have been condemned to death. By this means the artist sows the seed of doubt regarding the arbitrary and unjust application of such a severe punishment.

The image is markedly darker than the previous print in the series, suggesting that this mass execution takes place at night. It might also suggest that the unjust way in which some of the convicted men were executed was by this means hidden from the public. Moreover, the fact that there are no spectators to the act depicted in this image, in contrast to the scene depicted in print no. 33, could signify that the execution takes place in an enclosed space or in a place that the public were prohibited from entering.