Goya: Witness to War

Francisco Goya (1746–1828) was the official painter to the Spanish court, yet he became one of history's most powerful critics of violence. When Napoleon's armies occupied Spain in 1808, an uprising in Madrid on May 2 was followed by French executions of Spanish civilians. In 1814, after the French were expelled, Goya painted 'The Third of May 1808', showing a faceless firing squad aiming at a man with arms outstretched.

Unlike traditional heroic battle paintings, it portrays victims rather than glory. Between 1810 and 1820 Goya also created the 'Disasters of War' etchings, documenting cruelty committed by both sides; they were so disturbing that they were published only in 1863, decades after his death. Goya's work shows art as a form of moral testimony and influenced later artists, including Picasso.