Goya, And There’s Nothing to be Done (from ) Prahlad Sankrti, Per. 4 Context

▪ The Disasters of War were a series of 82 prints created by Goya between 1810 and 1820

▪ Visual protest against French Empire’s occupation of Spain under Bonaparte ▪ First 47 focus on (1807-1814) – its effects on individual soldiers and civilians ▪ Plates 48-64 show the results of the famine in in 1811-1812 ▪ Remaining prints show the disappointment of setbacks during the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy

▪ Goya was actually working as a court artist for King during this time Artist: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

▪ Born 1746

▪ Spanish Romantic painter and printmaker, considered one of the best during his time

▪ Regarded as one of the last great Old Masters (pre-1800) and also one of the first modern painters

▪ Went deaf due to undiagnosed illness in 1793, his work became progressively darker and more pessimistic after this

▪ Director of the Royal Academy in 1795, Primer Pintor de Cámara in 1799 (then the highest rank for Spanish royal court painter)

▪ Lived through “Enlightened monarchy,” Napoleon’s invasion, and disappointments of the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy

▪ Died 1828 Artistic Career

▪ Goya’s early work is lighter, in the Rococo style ▪ Portraits of Spanish aristocracy and royalty ▪ Tapestry cartoons

▪ Influenced by Velazquez when he painted La meja desnuda (1799) and Charles IV of Spain and His Family (1801)

▪ Middle period included The Disasters of War, Caprichos, and

▪ Later period included and La meja desnuda Portrait of Charles VI and His Family

Witches’ Sabbath (from The Disasters of War) Form

▪ 1810

▪ , , burin and burnisher

▪ 14 x 16.7 cm Content

▪ Man, blindfolded, off-kilter posture, Alter Christus

▪ In front of him is another man who we can infer was recently shot, blood & brain oozes out of his skull

▪ Men in the background on their knees, about to be executed

▪ Three rifles aimed at the main figure, Y no hai remedio caption Function

▪ Antiwar, tragic

▪ Goya largely kept his political views to himself during the time of French occupation since it was dangerous to be so critical publicly

▪ The Disasters of War published 35 years after Goya’s death in 1863, when people finally thought it safe to criticize the French and Bourbon Monarchy

Significance

▪ While Goya was a renowned painter, his prints convey his social and political views more than his paintings

▪ Holds cultural meaning

▪ Influenced Picasso’s modernism, Dali’s surrealism, etc.