Description

El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid, a renowned masterpiece by the Spanish Romantic artist Francisco Goya.
Artwork Details
Artist: Francisco Goya
Year: 1814
Location: Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain
The painting commemorates the Spanish resistance to Napoleon’s armies during the occupation of Madrid in 1808, specifically depicting the mass executions of Spanish civilians by French soldiers on Príncipe Pío hill the day after an uprising.
Central Figure: The composition’s focal point is the man in the bright white shirt and yellow pants, illuminated by a lantern, standing before the firing squad with his arms outstretched in a pose reminiscent of a crucified Christ. This figure symbolizes a heroic martyr or innocent victim.
Soldiers: The French soldiers form an anonymous, faceless firing squad, representing the brutal, dehumanizing machinery of war and oppression.
Themes: Goya departed from traditional heroic war paintings to portray the raw human emotion, terror, and brutality of mass murder, emphasizing the horrors and futility of conflict.