- Cronología
- Ca. 1812 - 1815
- Dimensiones
- 155 x 208 mm
- Técnica y soporte
- Aguafuerte, aguatinta bruñida, buril y bruñidor
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Undisputed work
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 08 Dec 2010 / 31 May 2023
- Inventario
- 225
See Sad presentiments of what must come to pass (Tristes presentimientos de lo que ha de acontecer).
The title of this print was handwritten by Goya and was printed without modification to the plate in the first edition of the series produced by the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1863.
There is a surviving preparatory drawing for this print which is housed in the Prado Museum.
Two armed Napoleonic soldiers prepare to shoot a man who has been tied to the trunk of a tree, his back to the viewer: a typical method of executing traitors. In the middle ground, in the lower section of the composition, the rest of the detail observes the scene taking place.
In Barbarians! Goya revisits the theme of execution by firearm already dealt with in other prints in the series such as no. 15, And it can't be helped (Y no hai remedio) and no. 26, One cannot look at this (No se puede mirar). However, in this work he includes a variation, since he not only depicts the barrels of the guns but also the executioners. In this case the artist takes up a clear position against this type of act, censuring it openly in the print's title. Perhaps the cruelty of the scene is heightened in comparison to other works in the series by the fact that the soldiers are punishing a member of their own army, shooting him in the back.
The light is focused on the central section of the print in an effect that reveals ample use of aquatint, while the rest of the composition is lit by a kind of mist that indicates that the scene is taking place at dawn or dusk. The artist offers the viewer a close-up of the figures, making it possible to capture every detail of the event depicted.
The plate is stored in the National Chalcography (cat. 289).
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Goya and his timesThe Royal Academy of ArtsLondon1963cat. 66cat. 243
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De grafiek van GoyaRijksmuseum RijksprentenkabinetAmsterdam1970from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971cat. 78
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Francisco de Goya: Maleri, Tegning, GrafikkNasjonalgallerietOslo1996from 10th to April 14th 1996cat. 141
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Francisco de GoyaMuseo d'Arte ModernaLugano1996exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.cat. 38
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Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996Galerie KornfeldBern1996from November 21st 1996 to January 1997cat. 124
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Francisco Goya. Capricci, follie e disastri della guerraSan Donato Milanese2000Opere grafiche della Fondazione Antonio Mazzottacat. 118
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Goya. Opera graficaPinacoteca del Castello di San GiorgioLegnano2006exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007p. 70
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Goya en tiempos de guerraMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid2008consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués, from April 14th to July 13th 2008cat. 97
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Goya et la modernitéPinacothèque de ParisParís2013from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014cat. 77
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Goya, grabadorMadridBlass S.A.1918cat. 140
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Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.OxfordBruno Cassirer1964cat. 158
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970cat. 1053
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Goya. Arte e condizione umanaNaplesLiguori editore1990lam. 195
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Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca NacionalMadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional1996cat. 243
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El Libro de los Desastres de la GuerraMadridMuseo del Prado2000II, pp. 78-80
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ParísPinacoteca de París2013p. 138
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Goya. In the Norton Simon MuseumPasadenaNorton Simon Museum2016pp. 114-151