Goya The Third Of May Analysis

The Third of May, 1808 was an oil painting painted in 1814 by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. The scene depicted was commemorating the Spanish resistance to the invasion of Napoleon’s troops, which was part of the Peninsular war, one of the many Napoleonic wars occurred in Europe during the early 19th century. The slaughter of Goya’s countrymen and the horrors of war made a profound impression on him and acted as an essential element that caused Goya to start this artwork, which is acclaimed as one of the great art of all time and has even been called the world’s first modern painting.

Goya being a Spanish himself, a bias somewhat exists in this painting that obviously the Spanish are the innocent victim and the French are the brutal aggressors. We can immediately establish that as we cannot see any of the faces of the French soldiers whereas the faces of the Spanish patriots are evident to the viewers, that

For instance, the man in the white shirt is a martyr to Spain, and in fact, his arms are raised up as if he is hanging from the cross and under close speculation, we can see small indentations in his palms that are a reference to the stigmata that the Christ received on the cross. Goya is using this historical tradition in painting for the representation of this event from his subjective modern viewpoint. It isn't about a message from the Pope or a person in power. It was not a painting made for a patron which is common during the era which this picture was finished. There’s even a sense that the Spanish resistors in the art are not depicted as heroes as we will traditionally think of in a history painting. So, what this picture represents is very much Goya’s viewpoint. Goya felt was critical to paint and so he did it. This is what makes it so unique and even be regarded as the first modern painting. This is absolutely a great try of Goya and thus has brought significant impact to the art