by Tim McNeese
tiesamonghisoldfriends.FloridablancaandJovellanosspoke
out in favor of a new liberal, nationalist government, while
Cabarrus supported Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, known as
the IntruderKing. At first,Goya did not choose sides in the
political conflicts that swirled throughout Madrid. Yet by
1810,hecameoutinfavorofthepatriotswhofoughtagainst
theFrench.
Duringtheseyearsofstruggleandstrife,Goyaproduced
severallargepaintingsthatwouldfurtherhisreputationasone
ofSpain’sgreatestartists.Theyincludedsuchworksas Majas
on a Balcony, Young Women, Time (The Old Women), The
Forge, and Lazarillo de Tormes. Thesepaintingsareimportant
worksforGoya,astheyrepresentastylethatwasaheadofits
time.Withthepossibleexceptionof Time,anallegoryportray-
ing the passing of the years, the works are straight-forward
scenes from Spanish life, all done in a style that borders on
impressionistic. The Majas on a Balconywasatease,featuring
two young, attractive women wearing the gowns, draperies,
and lace of the majas. As they sit on a balcony, they watch
passersby. Perhaps they are prostitutes, but they are made
morebrazenandmysteriousbythetwoblack-shroudedmale
figures who stand behind them. Here, Goya has created the
majas’ “sparkling embroidery” on their clothing “with pig-
mentappliedbyrapidthrustsofthepaletteknifewhichcon-
trasts with other parts of delicate transparency.”106 Of these
paintings, perhaps Young Women and The Forge reflect the
futureofWesternarttheclearest.Thecolorsinbotharebased
onmutedtonessurroundedbyshadesofgray,thrownontheir
116 FRANCISCO GOyA
canvaseswithboldbrushstrokes.Nineteenth-centuryimpres-
sionism appears just around the corner. With such works,
Goyaispainting,notfromcommission,butchoosingsubjects
thatstrikehisfancy,revealingtheartisticlibertyhehascome
toenjoy.
Despitesuchfreedom,Goyaneverputsatarm’slengththe
war his countrymen were experiencing with the French. He
takes on the subject and produces several stark, even shock-
ingpaintings.Twosuchworkswereproducedbetween1808
and1810, Brigands Stripping a Woman and Brigands Shooting
Their Prisoners.Theworksaredoneinmutedshades,alldark
NapOLeON: tHe Nemesis tO
tHe NOrtH
During much of the quarter century from 1789 to 1814, Spain
was at war with France. During the 1790s, the war was first
spurred by the execution of the French monarch, Louis XVI. The
Bourbons had been removed from power. This led to a coalition
of nations, including England, the Netherlands, and Spain, to
join with Austria and Prussia, two nations already at war with
France. This War of the First Coalition ended successfully for the
revolutionary government of France in 1797, after it defeated all
of France’s enemies except England.
By 1798, the War of the Second Coalition opened with
France facing England, Russia, Austria, and Turkey. By the fol-
lowing year, Napoleon claimed power for himself in France, ulti-
mately declaring himself emperor in 1804. By 1801, the second
war was successfully won, this time by Napoleon. yet war was
not over. England continued to struggle against the French, and
in 1805, the War of the Third Coalition began, with Austria and
Russia joining England again.
From 1805 to 1808, Napoleon appeared invincible on the
battlefield. He invaded the German states in the fall of 1805,
where he defeated an Austrian army. He defeated the Austrians
The Second of May and The Third of May 117
andstark.Theyareintendedtoportraythehorrorsofwarand
itsconsequences.Whiletheirmessagesareclear,theyaremost
notablebecauseofGoya’smasteryofcreatingworksthatbal-
ancethequalitiesoflightandshade.
They are reminiscent of Rembrandt at his best: darkness
interrupted by thin golden light, the humans so natural and
strippedoffancythattheirpresenceonthecanvasesmaybe
actually felt. Goya painted additional war-themed canvases,
suchas Making Gunpowder in the Sierra Tardienta and Making
Bullets.In1810,healsoproducedaseriesofetchingsdesigned
to portray death and destruction. The series was titled The
again two months later. The following year, Napoleon orga-
nized the Confederation of the Rhine, an alliance of German
states including Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurttemberg against
the Prussians and the Austrians. Napoleon then defeated the
Russians and the Prussians and negotiated a treaty ending their
involvement in the war.
The French emperor would subsequently invade the Iberian
Peninsula, first to fight the Portuguese, then overthrowing the
Spanish monarch in 1808. yet the Spanish people would not sur-
render to Napoleon, and they waged a guerrilla campaign known
as the Peninsular War that stretched on from 1808 to 1814.
This fierce resistance against the French would be crucial to the
ultimate fate of Napoleon. Through those years, it helped bottle
up perhaps as many as 250,000 French troops on the Iberian
Peninsula, forces Napoleon could not use on other battlefields.
Ultimately, Napoleon overextended himself when he invaded
Russia in 1812, losing his Grande Armée of 600,000 men. By
spring 1813, a new coalition of European powers was closing in
on the French dictator. Napoleon was finally defeated in 1814,
drawing the eight-year conflict in Spain to a close.
118 FRANCISCO GOyA
Disasters of War, which focuses repeatedly on such scenes as
piles of corpses. They are atrocity pictures, never intended
forpublication.Thefirstpublicprintingwouldnottakeplace
until 1863, nearly 50 years later, decades after Goya’s death.
Oftheroughly80prints,about20percentofthemshowthe
gruesomeeffectsofstarvationinMadridduringtheyears1811
to1812.Amongthestarkestisanetchingofanewlydeceased,
youngmotherbeingcarriedtohergravebythreesombermen
ashertoddlerchildweeps.
aCCeLerateD eVeNts
By 1812, events were moving quickly. For Goya, the most
immediateandpersonalwasthedeathofhiswife,Josefa,atage
65,inJune.Herdeathrequiredalegallistingofherproperty,
which gives historians a view of Goya’s finances. It appears
that Goya’s net worth stood at 360,000 reales. Yet other,
more political, events would bring further change to Goya’s
life. The war with France would eventually end. Napoleon’s
forcesinRussiawerefacingruinin1812.Thefollowingyear
broughtfurtherdefeatfortheFrench,thistimeontheIberian
PeninsulaatthehandsoftheEnglishmilitaryofficer,Arthur
DukeofWellington.Goyawouldwitnessthetransferofpower
back to Ferdinand VII, who made his triumphal return to
Madrid by May of 1814. (Through such changes in power,
Goyamanagedtokeephisplaceascourtpainterthroughthe
reignofJosephBonaparte,justashehadservedCarlosIV.He
wouldcontinueastheroyalpainterforFerdinand.)
The return of Ferdinand received mixed responses. The
Spanish king quickly destroyed the new, liberal constitu-
tion that had been voted on by the Spanish Parliament in
1812. The parliament had been operating in exile in the city
of Cádiz, in southwestern Spain. Although history judges
Ferdinandharshlyforthemove,theSpanishpublicgavehim
theirsupport.Tothem,“hewasseenasthesaviourwhohad
overthrowntheNapoleonicAntichrist.”107 Ferdinand,withhis
The Second of May and The Third of May 119
Goya’s tribute to the citizens of Madrid, The Second of May, 1808, captures the early moments of the crowd’s uprising against the Mamelukes of the French Imperial Guard.
Goya portrays his fellow countrymen as heroes, using crude weapons against a well-
trained, professional army. The scene purposely lacks a single focus point: Goya’s
intention is to show the chaotic nature of what actually happened that day.
conservative intentions, chose to abandon all liberal reforms
inSpainandrestorepowertohisthroneandtotheCatholic
Church.Formany,thesemoveswereviewedasreturningto
better days. Despite the changes, however, Goya remained
courtpainter.
120 FRANCISCO GOyA
Goya recorded the French response to the uprisings of May 2, 1808, in The Third of May, 1808. This scene shows the murders on Principe Pio hill, one of several places where Spanish citizens were shot. The central figure, dressed in a white shirt as a symbol of innocence, looms above his fallen friends, staring bravely at the faceless enemy.
During these political changes, Goya painted political
subjects. With the French gone, the aging Aragonese art-
ist painted the Allegory of the Constitution of 1812, which
revealed his allegiance to liberal politics that supported a
written framework of government at the expense of the
The Second of May and The Third of May 121
unlimited power of a monarch. The painting is a pink and
blue tribute to liberalism in Spain. Yet the constitution
Goyapraisedinpaintwouldsoonbescrappedbytheauto-
craticFerdinand.Next,Goyamadeanofficialrequestfrom
the returning Spanish monarch “to commemorate with my
paintbrushthemostnotableandheroicactionsofourglori-
ousrebellionagainstthetyrantofEurope.”108 Hewasrefer-
ring,ofcourse,totheeventsofnearlysixyearsearlieronMay
2andMay3,1808:thebloody,spontaneousuprisinginthe
streets of Madrid against the removal of the Spanish royal
family and the French reprisals that followed the next day.
Ferdinandgavehispermission.
a pair OF paiNtiNGs
Goya’s paintings would become iconic symbols of French
brutality against the Spanish people and would serve as
two of Spain’s greatest propaganda paintings. (In the late
1930s,PabloPicasso’smonochromaticpainting, Guernica,a
responsetoFascistatrocitiesinSpain,alsoservedasapow-
erfulpieceofSpanishpropagandaart.)Goyawouldnotset
his two works in a typical military setting of two European
armies clashing across a chaotic battlefield of war. Instead,
his paintings focus on the heroism of the average, street-
levelSpanishcivilianwhoroseupvoluntarilyandsuddenly
againsttheFrench.Thepaintingsareintimate,setcloseinon
theviolence.
In The Second of May, 1808, Goya crowds his canvas
with two dozen subjects clashing in the streets of Madrid.
Everythingisarrangedsotightlythattheviewer’seyesmove
from person to person so naturally that the entire work
seems to move on its own. The scene is frantic, frenzied,
and kinetic, as motion and emotion dominate. Nothing is
subtletyportrayed.Theanger,fear,andrageseenonthefaces
of the Spanish rioters can almost be touched or felt. These
emotions are embodied most significantly in the wild-eyed
look of the assassin standing at the painting’s center: his
122 FRANCISCO GOyA
dagger is raised to slash in anger at a Mameluke who has
already been dealt a deathblow and is falling upside down
andoffhiswhitecharger.Otherdaggersareraisedwithequal
a CirCLe OF FrieNDs
FrieNDs aND CONFiDaNts
Through entire phases of his life, Francisco Goya could be considered
a solitary man. He was not always prone to strong, emotional friend-
ships, and sometimes he seems so busy with his career that he had
few close friends. yet friendship was an important aspect of Goya’s
personality, even if friends seem to have come and gone sometimes
with regularity.
Among Goya’s friends, none towers greater than the young man he
met at school, a fellow student at the Escuela Pia who would continue
as his comrade for decades to follow—Martin Zapater. So much of
what is known about the personable Goya is known through the many
letters that the Spanish artist wrote over the years to his friend and
confidant. Although the two met on common ground as young men,
Zapater remained a close and essential comrade in the life of the adult
Goya, even after his friend became famous and associated with kings.
Although they did not always live in close proximity to one another
in later decades, Zapater served as a good anchor for Goya. They were
not alike in every way, and Zapater was able to understand those dif-
ferences and help his friend through difficult times, including depres-
sions. It is important to understand that, although Goya became
famous and successful and Zapater less so, the artist continued to turn
to the friend of his youth as a sounding board and for moral support.
While Zapater was a constant friend in the long life of Goya, oth-
ers came along at various points during his career. Among those with
the greatest influences were three who would have dramatic impacts
on the history of Spain during Goya’s lifetime. They included the
count of Floridablanca, Pedro de Campomanes, and Gaspar Melchor
de Jovellanos. Of the three, Floridablanca and Campomanes would
The Second of May and The Third of May 123
fervorbycombatantsonbothsides.Allischaosandclamoras
Frenchsoldiersfall.ThespiritsoftheSpanishriseastheriot-
ersseizetheopportunitytheyhavegainedtotaketheirrevenge
have the most significant influences on the life of the Spanish artist.
They were open-minded men whose enlightened outlooks meshed well
; with that of Goya’s worldly, sometimes even cynical, view of humanity.
These two were involved in the business world and in politics, and Goya
learned from them and was helped by their personal and professional
careers. It was Floridablanca, after all, who, as Spanish royal minister,
probably introduced Goya to King Carlos’s brother, the Infante, Don
Luis de Bourbon, who became an important patron of Goya’s.
It was also Floridablanca who introduced Goya to the duke and
duchess of Osuna, who became not only patrons of the artist, but
friends as well. For 30 years, the duke and duchess (Goya first knew
them as the marquis and marquise de Penafiel) were great supporters.
The artist would be the duchess’s favorite painter. Between the works
he created through their support, Goya would become known as the
best portrait artist in Spain.
Among his circle of important and influential friends, Goya also
counted other aristocratic women. The duchess of Alba, one of the
most beautiful women in Spain, became a friend, confidant, and
patron. Some even hinted that Goya and the duchess might have been
lovers, but there was a 17-year difference in their ages, and no evi-
dence of a sexual relationship exists.
In the end, what about those whom Goya considered among his
circle of friends? Did they include fellow artists, those who may have
shared artistic tendencies with the Spanish artist? While he did have
artistic influences and short-lived painter friendships, it appears that
Goya’s friends were typically those who were among his patrons and
supporters, rather than his fellow artists.
124 FRANCISCO GOyA
ontheirinvaders.Thearrangementisclassicallypainted,one
that could have been of a Roman or Greek battle scene. Yet
Goya has brought new emotion to the action, which is both
pedestrianandnoble.
With his second painting, Goya creates a totally differ-
ent work. While the Second of May, 1808 is a crowded and
confused scene with strong political, liberal, and secular
overtones, “the Third of May has more of a character of a
religious altarpiece—dedicated, however, to the religion of
patriotism.”109 Just as the main character in his Second of