Los Desastres de la Guerra by Francisco Goya

            

               


       Los Desastres de la Guerra, by Francisco Goya, in 1815 has been regarded as an influential Spanish painting during the late 18th and early 19th century. Goya’s painting depicts a time when Napoleon and his army invaded Spain in 1808 (History of the World). This brutal war, also known as the Peninsular Wars led to a mass execution of the Spanish people, who rose up against Napoleon (Disasters of War). Although Francisco Goya despised the French he pledged his allegiance to Bonaparte and painted for the French Regime (Met Museum). When Napoleon's regime failed Goya commemorated his allegiance to Spain by depicting realistic events of Napoleon and his army effected the people. These moments are featured in Goya's famous paintings like The Third of May in 1808, and a series of prints, The Disasters of War in 1815 (Met Muesuem).  

   

       Francisco Goya accounted for the inhumanity of war and depicted the corruption brought by Napoleon during the struggle for independence in Spain from France. The composition of the drawings are similar to Jacques Callot's, The Miseries of War and played an influential factor. Goya's technique is known as the Baroque and Rococo tradition, which is the skill of contrasting light and dark colors (Met Museum). Goya also depicts soldiers and barbarians and displays every different scene during the war. This main drawing featured above from The Disasters of War series is Bury them and Be Silent (History of the World). Where a man and woman are portrayed as weeping for their people as all the dead bodies lie amongst them. The painting depicts the death war brings and the sorrowful tone it results in. 

   

       This painting is significant to my theme because it illustrates how over time each artist sees the negative effects of war and expresses their feelings of war differently. From the Thirty Years' War, The Spanish Civil War, WWI and WWII, it is important to recognize how each painting from each war begins to follow the same theme. This is because the consequences of war weigh heavily with each unique artists' depiction. It also ties with my theme of how war effects societies and people world-wide and how it impacts the art of that period. 

"History of the World". (2011, April 24.) Miseries of War. <http://all-history.org/220.html> 

"Met Museum" (2011, April 24).  Francisco Goya (1746-1828). http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/goya/hd_goya.htm

"The Disasters of War". (2011, May 9). Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disasters_of_War>.


"Bury them and be silent" (image) https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnGWiUXl3cfEXXn0eH8uULqiRirlwf9j-K91aPhy8C-o3Z37KBZQQ35CxE-y5I3QimBi5CPYyMoEw4oHTGKotqY4srjQp2gbMW0i-rbs93PGJGTUq40x5e41jlPn4gpd5X3wqgR-fJh9c/s320/Goya+Bury+Them+and+Be+Silent+1810-1815.jpg