The Third of May 1808, Francisco de Goya painted an event that took place on the second and third of May 1808, when the citizens of Madrid rose up against the French invaders and received on the following day a swift and barbarous retribution (Honour, 602).
On the left of the painting, a group of unarmed civilians kneeling in a mingled pool of blood and dead bodies, backed against a mound and facing a firing-squad; members of the firing squad, on the right, are ready and committed to carry out the executions; a group of spectators have gathered past the condemned and the executioners to witness the event.
The dark sky in the background is sad and gloomy, and a palace looks lifeless and has lost all its grandeur. The only illumination in the painting comes from a lantern at the feet of the soldiers.
Initial observation arouses sympathy in our heart for the helpless men who are facing death, but careful analysis would help us understand that perhaps they do not deserve sympathy. Instead, these men are facing justice; the table of oppression has turned against them! A monk among the condemned civilians reminds us vividly of the Spanish Inquisition. Spain bathed in death and destruction, but the time has come for them to meet their fate. Goya did not show us the faces of the executioners—i.e., their identity-- because it is unimportant who is carrying out justice. Some may think those are French soldiers, but their uniforms and high hats (French soldiers wore hats with a flattened brim in front and back) do not support such view.
The civilians witnessing the execution appear to be neutral, participating in neither invasion nor in the uprising; thus, they are innocent. However, in realty, these men are treacherous individuals who benefited from being Spaniards but refused to help the motherland. Now come the cowards to witness the death of the Spanish heroes. The guilt in these weaklings is constant and as a result, they cannot make direct eye contact with the condemned men or the soldiers; one of them looks at the event through a hesitant side-glance while the others have covered their eyes with shame.
Finally, Goya, the great Spanish painter, focuses the lone lantern on the people who are dead or would be dead shortly. Therefore, it would be reasonable if we conclude the essence of this painting is death and the horror
On the left of the painting, a group of unarmed civilians kneeling in a mingled pool of blood and dead bodies, backed against a mound and facing a firing-squad; members of the firing squad, on the right, are ready and committed to carry out the executions; a group of spectators have gathered past the condemned and the executioners to witness the event.
The dark sky in the background is sad and gloomy, and a palace looks lifeless and has lost all its grandeur. The only illumination in the painting comes from a lantern at the feet of the soldiers.
Initial observation arouses sympathy in our heart for the helpless men who are facing death, but careful analysis would help us understand that perhaps they do not deserve sympathy. Instead, these men are facing justice; the table of oppression has turned against them! A monk among the condemned civilians reminds us vividly of the Spanish Inquisition. Spain bathed in death and destruction, but the time has come for them to meet their fate. Goya did not show us the faces of the executioners—i.e., their identity-- because it is unimportant who is carrying out justice. Some may think those are French soldiers, but their uniforms and high hats (French soldiers wore hats with a flattened brim in front and back) do not support such view.
The civilians witnessing the execution appear to be neutral, participating in neither invasion nor in the uprising; thus, they are innocent. However, in realty, these men are treacherous individuals who benefited from being Spaniards but refused to help the motherland. Now come the cowards to witness the death of the Spanish heroes. The guilt in these weaklings is constant and as a result, they cannot make direct eye contact with the condemned men or the soldiers; one of them looks at the event through a hesitant side-glance while the others have covered their eyes with shame.
Finally, Goya, the great Spanish painter, focuses the lone lantern on the people who are dead or would be dead shortly. Therefore, it would be reasonable if we conclude the essence of this painting is death and the horror
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