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Primary sourcePainting1810-1820

The Disasters of War

Francisco Goya · 1810-1820

A series of etchings by Goya showing the atrocities, famine and political betrayal of the Peninsular War, unpublished in his lifetime.

Goya created this private series as his unfiltered, unpublished response to the war's atrocities and political betrayals.

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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.
Francisco Goya, The Disasters of War, plate 2, c. 1810-1820 (published 1863).

About this source

What it is

A series of prints made between 1810 and 1820 by Francisco Goya, using etching, aquatint, engraving and drypoint. Goya kept them private; they were not published until decades after his death, when it was considered safer to criticise both the French and the restored Spanish monarchy.

Why it matters

While serving as court painter to Spanish and French rulers alike, Goya privately recorded a very different view of the war: starvation, cruelty and the collapse of political hope rather than heroism. The prints break from earlier war art by focusing on ordinary individuals' suffering and by abandoning colour for stark shadow. They are seen as some of the earliest modern protest art.

Look closer

  • Why might Goya have hidden his true feelings about the war while he was alive?
  • What does the choice to leave out colour do to how we experience these scenes?
  • Why do you think these images were not published until so long after they were made?

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.

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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

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

Group portrait of the Spanish royal family in a palace room. Richly dressed figures stand in a dim interior before a large dark painting, with a landscape window at right. King Charles IV in a brown embroidered coat and sash stands at center right, a queen in a white and gold gown at center, and children and adults surround them.Painting

Primary source

Charles IV of Spain and His Family

Francisco Goya · 1800-1801

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