Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePaintingc. 1818

The Colossus

Attributed to Francisco Goya (reattributed to Goya's circle) · c. 1818

A painting traditionally linked to Goya showing a giant looming over a fleeing crowd, often read as an image of wartime panic.

Long attributed to Goya, this painting is now used to teach how art historians debate authorship of his works.

Ask Francisco Goya about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Painting of a enormous, muscular giant with a dark beard and hair, seen from behind and partly turned, rising above a dark landscape. Below, tiny figures flee in panic among scattered cattle, a cart, and a dark hillside under a gray, stormy sky.
Attributed to Francisco Goya (now Goya's circle), The Colossus, c. 1818. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

About this source

What it is

This painting has traditionally been attributed to Francisco Goya, dated around 1818, though the Museo del Prado reattributed it to Goya's circle in 2008. It shows a huge giant in the centre of the canvas, with tiny people and cattle fleeing below. It is held in the Museo del Prado, and was once owned by Goya's son, Javier Goya.

Why it matters

Painted during or after the Peninsular War, the image has been connected to a patriotic poem imagining Spain as a giant rising to resist the Napoleonic invasion. Whether or not Goya himself painted it, the debate over its authorship shows historians how attribution is worked out from inventories, technique and provenance records, not just gut feeling.

Look closer

  • What makes the tiny fleeing figures below seem so helpless compared to the giant?
  • Why might historians disagree about who actually painted this work?
  • What does the uncertainty around authorship teach you about trusting labels on artworks?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Francisco Goya on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Francisco Goya sources

Meet the AI Francisco Goya →
Painting of a nighttime execution. On the left, a man in a white shirt and yellow trousers throws his arms up while other prisoners cover their faces or kneel. Bodies lie bloodied on the ground in the foreground. On the right, a row of soldiers in dark shakos aims muskets at the prisoners, beside a lantern-lit box. A town with a church tower sits under a dark sky.Painting

Secondary source

The Third of May 1808

Francisco Goya · 1814

Black and white etching of Goya's Disasters of War series, plate 2, titled 'Con razón ó sin ella'. A bearded man in dark clothing, arm outstretched, is pushed back by a soldier thrusting a rifle with bayonet; another soldier in a tall hat stands behind. Bodies lie on the ground at left, and a crowd of figures is crouched in the background.Painting

Primary source

The Disasters of War

Francisco Goya · 1810-1820

Etching showing a standing man in pale clothing with head bowed, leaning against a wooden post, while a seated figure and a lying body in the foreground appear in dark shadow. Plate labeled 'Y no hai remedio' beneath the image.Painting

Primary source

Y no hai remedio

Francisco de Goya · c. 1810-1814 (published 1863)

Etching from Goya's Caprichos, plate 43. A sleeping man rests his head on a desk with his arms folded while owls, bats, and a cat gather around him in a dark sky. Caption reads 'El sueño de la razón produce monstruos.' Number 43 in the top right corner.Painting

Primary source

Caprichos

Francisco Goya · 1799 (created 1797-1798)

Etching of a man asleep with his head on his arms at a desk, surrounded by owls, bats, and a cat. Inscription in the lower left reads 'El sueño de la razón produce monstruos'. Dark, hatched lines on a light ground.Painting

Primary source

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Francisco Goya · 1797-1799

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Francisco Goya now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions