The Third of May, 1808 Or: How Goya Revolutionized The Way We See War

Francisco de Goya's Third of May, 1808 is one of the most powerful images of war ever painted. In this video, we explore why.  #arthistory #artdocumentary #goya #art #artwork #spanishartist #war It’s May 3, 1808 in Spain. Napoleon’s soldiers collect the Spanish civilians they had arrested during an uprising the previous day. They take them into the hills above Madrid, and this is what happened next: This is the Third of May, 1808 by Francisco de Goya. It’s one of the most haunting images ever painted, because it deals with the human toll of war — This isn’t an active, exotic glorification of battle, filled with movement and color. Nor is it an orderly triumph of high-mindedness as one side claims the victory. Instead, Goya shows us unknown, ordinary Spanish civilians moments before they’re shot by a French firing squad. It’s a chilling image… one that stays with you well after you’ve looked away ---- Works Cited: Clark, Kenneth. “Looking at Pictures.” Beacon Press, 1968. “Dos de Mayo Uprising.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dos_de_... Kleiner, Fred and Helen Gardner. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Volume II. Australia, Cengage Learning, 2017. “The Third of May 1808.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thi... Ward, Ken. “The Crisis of 1808.” The John Carter Brown Library. 20 January 2009. https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John... Zapella, Christine. “Goya, Third of May, 1808.” Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...