Goya The Third of May, 1808
Artist: Francisco Goya (Spanish b. 1746 d. 1828)
Date: 1814-15
Dimensions: 8’9” x 13’4”
Medium: oil on canvas
Current location: Museo del Prado, Madrid
Period: Romanticism
Genre: history painting

Quick Notes:
  • The painting is the sister to The Second of May, 1808. Together, the two canvases
    represent an uprising by the Spanish people against their Napoleonic occupiers. In this
    canvas, the French soldiers senselessly murder citizens whom they believe were involved
    in the uprising the day before.
  • The firing squad is a symbol that would reoccur time and again in the horrors of modern
    war. H. W, Janson writes in Art History, "They are a formation of faceless killers,
    completely indifferent to their victims' defiance and despair. The same scene was to be
    repeated countless times in modern history. With the prophecy of genius, Goya created
    an image that has become a terrifying symbol of our era."
  • The central figure, protesting with arms upraised, recalls religious images of the crucified
    Christ. Goya highlighted this impression by posing the figure in an X shape and
    illuminating him strongly by the lantern.

Suggested Compare-Contrast Target:
  • Pablo Picasso, Guernica


Writing Prompts:
  • How does Goya use symbolism and compositional devices to make the viewer sympathize
    with the man in white?
  • What elements of the painting are naturalistic and which are fantastic?



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