Francisco de Goya

Datos Generales
Cronología
1810
Dimensiones
163 x 236 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching, aquatint, burin, drypoint and burnisher
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
02 Dec 2010 / 24 May 2023
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

Goya (lower left-hand corner), 11 (lower left-hand corner)

Historia

See Sad presentiments of what must come to pass.

In the artist's proofs we can see a gradual softening in the definition of the muscles of the corpses being thrown into the mass grave.

The title was handwritten on the print by Goya in the first and only series that is known to have been printed at the time the works were created, which the artist gave to his friend Agustín Ceán Bermúdez. Therefore, the title was etched into the plate at a later date and left unchanged as of the first edition of the Disasters of War printed by the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1863, after the printing of the series in the possession of Ceán Bermúdez.

There is a surviving preparatory drawing for this print which is housed in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Análisis artístico

In order to avoid the spread of diseases in times of war, corpses were buried in mass graves. This is exactly what Goya shows in this print, in which we can see various men throwing decapitated, totally naked bodies into a grave. On the edge of the pit other naked corpses are piled up, ready to be thrown into the grave.

The title of the print is loaded with a strong sense of irony, since there is little charity in this gesture: on the contrary, it is an act of selfishness, as was the concern to attend to the wounded in order to ensure that they could later go forth into battle once more.

In the background we can see a standing figure who stares into space with a preoccupied expression. This might be a self-portrait of Goya himself witnessing the scene. It is likely that the artist would have seen some scenes of this kind in person and that he would have made studies in the moment of the action. However, the dominant trend in this series of avoiding characterizing figures or giving specific geographical references suggests that the majority of the images in The Disasters of War were the fruit of a mental process of composition based on events that the artist had seen.

Conservación

The plate is stored in the National Chalcography (cat. 278).

Exposiciones
  • Goya and his times
    The Royal Academy of Arts
    London
    1963
    cat. 66
  • De grafiek van Goya
    Rijksmuseum Rijksprentenkabinet
    Amsterdam
    1970
    from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971
  • Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • Francisco de Goya
    Museo d'Arte Moderna
    Lugano
    1996
    exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.
  • Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996
    Galerie Kornfeld
    Bern
    1996
    from November 21st 1996 to January 1997
  • Francisco Goya. Capricci, follie e disastri della guerra
    San Donato Milanese
    2000
    Opere grafiche della Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta
  • Goya. Opera grafica
    Pinacoteca del Castello di San Giorgio
    Legnano
    2006
    exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007
  • Goya en tiempos de guerra
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2008
    consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués, from April 14th to July 13th 2008
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
  • Goya: Order and disorder
    Museum of Fine Arts
    Boston
    2014
Bibliografía
  • BERUETE Y MONET, Aureliano de
    Goya, grabador
    MadridBlass S.A.
    1918
    cat. 129
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    cat. 147
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    cat. 1038
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    cat. 229
  • BLAS BENITO, Javier and MATILLA, José Manuel
    El Libro de los Desastres de la Guerra
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    2000
    pp. 55-57
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 133
  • ILCHMAN, Frederick y STEPANEK, Stephanie L. (comisarios)
    Goya: Order & Disorder
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications
    2014
    p. 12
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 114-151
Enlaces externos
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