Thursday, September 19, 2019
Goya: Truth and War Essays -- essays research papers
                         GOYA: Truth and War On May 2nd 1808 the people of Madrid revolted against the French troops occupying their city. The following day the French retaliated. In the remembrance of this event Francisco de Goya painted The Third of May. The horrific scene takes place at night on a deserted hillside. The feeling of horror is conveyed by the churoscuro use of lighting. Painted with intense emotional expression the Spaniards stand before there deaths. The soldiers before them lined up with guns in hand and ready to fire. The Spaniard facial expression and body language differ slightly which conveys the methodical process of execution that each victim faced before and after their death. It is uncertain weather or not Goya acctually witnessed these events. In any case his depiction of this event paints a horrific and dramatic picture, which evokes emotion that is quit undeniable. As in some of his other works Goya represents the brutal truth of warfare.      Goya’s earlier work consists of the irrational or macabre, exploring worlds of dark fantasy. Paintings such as St. Francis and Borgia Exorcising or The Bogeyman is Coming represent his preoccupation with the unknown or strange. Goya’s work focuses on both the potentials of human behaviour and the strang and unusual qualities of fantasy and reality. Observing an earlier painting such as The Bogeyman is Coming in comparison to the Third of May, Goya makes a shift in subject matter from an imagined fantasy to a real life event. Although this change has occurred his element of the macabre are still present. The immediate impression of The Third of May is of terror and immoralized human behavior. The central figure holds out his arms like a man crucified with the body language of defiance. Bright whites and yellows are used in contrast to his surroundings contributing to the dramatic image. The Spaniard’s faces are drawn in detail giving each figure an identity. Their facial expressions show fear and despair. No longer is Goya using elements of horror and drama to represent an imagined event. This is a picture of reality, an event that occurred with every amount of terror and emotion that ... ...pics were somewhat alike but their approach and effect were quit different.      Likely to be influenced by Jacques Callot’s earlier works such as Les Caprices, Les Bohemiens, and Les Grandes Miseres de la Guerre, Goya completed The Disasters of War. These were the accounts of violence that Goya recorded during France’s presence in Spain. It consisted of eighty etchings and wasn’t published until 1863. In these etchings Goya illustrates the horrible war-like violence that took place in Spain. These images are done with the same pitiless honesty that Goya used in the Third of May. Obscure, curious and irrational elements were still apparent in his art.      In his eighty-two year life span Goya painted images that were sinister, dark, dramatic and tragic but at the same time intriguing and truthful. Goya’s depictions of war were honest delving into human behavior and wars brutal immoralizing of human action. Goya found violence and degradation in life and humanity. His portrayal of these elements in his paintings communicated to his viewers the undeniable truths of humanity.     Â
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