Goya The Disasters Of War Analysis
Pablo Picasso and Francisco de Goya were both prolific artists of their times, offering works of great “visual travesty of the glories of warfare and bloody victory” (Selz, 84).
Goya was a lifelong rebel. A libertarian opposed to all sorts of tyranny, the Spanish artist began as a semi-Rococo designer for tapestries. Then he became painter to Charles IV of Spain, whose court was known for corruption and repression. Goya’s observations of the inhumane royal court and the prejudices of the church turned him into a bitter recluse satirist. Goya’s “Family of Charles IV” is a court painting that exposes the evil of human nature. The courageous red-faced king, loaded with medals, appears piggish; the sharp-eyed trio at left (including an old lady with an extremely …show more content…
His disgust with humanity followed a near-fatal illness in 1792 that left him totally deaf. During his recovery, isolated from society, he began to paint demons of his inner fantasy world, the start of a preoccupation with bizarre, grotesque creatures in his mature work.
A master graphic artist, Goya’s sixty-five etchings, “The Disasters of War” from 1810-14, are candid depictions of atrocities committed by both the French and Spanish armies during the invasion of Spain. Goya created images that “touched on the grotesque and disasters such as war” (Selz, 99). He reduces scenes of barbaric torture to their horrifying basics with gory precision. His observation at human cruelty was fearless: castrations, dismemberments, beheaded civilians impaled on trees, dehumanized soldiers, staring coldly at lynched corpses.
“The Third of May, 1808” was Goya’s response to the slaughter of 5,000 Spanish civilians. The executions were act of vengeance for the revolt against the French army in which the Spaniards were killed regardless of innocence or guilt. Those possessing a penknife or scissor (“bearing arms”) were marched before a firing squad in
Goya was a lifelong rebel. A libertarian opposed to all sorts of tyranny, the Spanish artist began as a semi-Rococo designer for tapestries. Then he became painter to Charles IV of Spain, whose court was known for corruption and repression. Goya’s observations of the inhumane royal court and the prejudices of the church turned him into a bitter recluse satirist. Goya’s “Family of Charles IV” is a court painting that exposes the evil of human nature. The courageous red-faced king, loaded with medals, appears piggish; the sharp-eyed trio at left (including an old lady with an extremely …show more content…
His disgust with humanity followed a near-fatal illness in 1792 that left him totally deaf. During his recovery, isolated from society, he began to paint demons of his inner fantasy world, the start of a preoccupation with bizarre, grotesque creatures in his mature work.
A master graphic artist, Goya’s sixty-five etchings, “The Disasters of War” from 1810-14, are candid depictions of atrocities committed by both the French and Spanish armies during the invasion of Spain. Goya created images that “touched on the grotesque and disasters such as war” (Selz, 99). He reduces scenes of barbaric torture to their horrifying basics with gory precision. His observation at human cruelty was fearless: castrations, dismemberments, beheaded civilians impaled on trees, dehumanized soldiers, staring coldly at lynched corpses.
“The Third of May, 1808” was Goya’s response to the slaughter of 5,000 Spanish civilians. The executions were act of vengeance for the revolt against the French army in which the Spaniards were killed regardless of innocence or guilt. Those possessing a penknife or scissor (“bearing arms”) were marched before a firing squad in