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The Second of May 1808

Francisco Goya · 1814

Goya's painting of Madrid's uprising against Napoleon's Mamluk cavalry during the 1808 Dos de Mayo revolt.

Goya painted this commissioned scene of the 1808 Madrid uprising he lived through.

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Goya's painting The Second of May 1808: a chaotic street battle in Madrid. Mounted soldiers in helmets and plumed hats charge into a crowd; a white horse rears over fallen bodies, and a man in a yellow jacket swings a curved blade. Smoke and buildings fill the background.
Francisco Goya, The Second of May 1808, 1814. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

About this source

What it is

Francisco Goya painted this work in 1814, as a companion to The Third of May 1808. It shows the Dos de Mayo Uprising of 1808 in Madrid, when Mamluk cavalry serving in Napoleon's army charged a crowd of rebelling citizens. It hangs today in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

Why it matters

Goya was commissioned to paint it after Napoleon's forces were driven out of Spain, by the government ruling before King Ferdinand VII's return. He chose to show ordinary Madrid citizens fighting a professional army with crude weapons, a choice that reportedly displeased the king, so the painting was not publicly displayed for years. It reveals how Goya used art to comment on war, chaos and ordinary people's courage rather than glorifying any single hero.

Look closer

  • Why might Goya have avoided giving the painting one clear central figure or hero?
  • What does the chaos of the composition tell you about how Goya wanted viewers to feel?
  • Why was this painting commissioned years after the event it depicts, and how might that affect its accuracy?

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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Secondary source

The Third of May 1808

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