Description
Depicts several men, with three clear sides. On the right side, there are men with swords and guns aimed at the men on the left, and are in some kind of uniform. The men on the left are being shot down by the guns and they are surrounded by corpses. There is a man in the middle of the crowd with a white luminous shirt holding his hands up in desperation. In the middle/background there is a group of people sobbing into their hands. There also seems to be a large building in the background.
Analysis
This painting by Francisco Goya depicts the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies in the Peninsular war of 1808. It truly shows the horrors of war and how it affected the Spanish people. Napoleon showed interest in Spain due to its control/access to the mediterranean sea.
Interpretation
This painting is made to display the atrocities that Napoleon's army was inflicting onto the Spanish civilians during the Peninsular war of 1808. The war was an extremely bloody war between Spain and Portugal against France for control over the Iberian Peninsula. Most Iberians rejected Napoleon's rule and fought tooth and nail until they defeated Napoleon in 1814. There were over 1 million casualties on both sides.
Judgement
This painting has extreme value because it is a screenshot of how brutal the war was on Spanish civilians just going about their normal life. This work should be seen as a reminder of the lives lost and a demonstration of the true brutality of war. It is also seen as one of the first paintings of the modern era, because of its divergence from the traditional christian art at that time.
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