The paintings were written, apparently, especially for the cabinet in the palace of the Prime Minister of Spain Manuel Godoy, who adorned the images of nude nature. There is a legend that both canvases were in the same mechanical frame, and, if desired, you could move “Mahu dressed” to see “Mach naked.”
It can not be ruled out that “Mach dressed” and was created with the goal of hiding “Mach naked”. “Mach” – a woman whose main meaning of life is love. Seductive, temperamental flies became the embodiment of the characteristic Spanish understanding of attractiveness.
In his works, Goya not only brilliantly embodied the image of the new Venus of contemporary Spanish society, but also surprisingly subtly felt the changes in artistic style on the brink of eras. “Mach naked” with all its proximity to modernity, bears the imprint of the taste of the XVIII century with its grace and artificiality. “Mach dressed” by the frankness of the senses and spicy oriental exotics is turned into the future, anticipating the romanticism of the XIX century.