A Scene from the Spanish War of Independence Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

The depicted scene has been interpreted in many ways over the last hundred years, with some researchers seeing it as a clash of highwaymen or outlaws surprised by soldiers, while others have suggested that the events are reminiscent of battles in the Spanish War of lndependence. The gently sloping, barren landscape is a setting full of meaning, in which the faceless figures are only secondary characters. The use of fluid brushstrokes, subdued colours, the emphasis on dark tones and the storm motif are reminiscent of Goya’s “black paintings”.
The movements of the figures raising their hands and of the armed characters recall the master’s post-war paintings, such as the one known as 3 May 1808.