The Third of May 1808, 1814
Francisco Goya
Oil on canvas · 268 x 347 cm
A man in white throws up his arms before a faceless firing squad.
Goya shows a defenceless man flinging out his arms before a faceless firing squad, a lantern blazing between them. Raw, furious and unheroic, this 1814 image invented modern anti-war painting — a howl against the brutality of occupation.
What you're looking at
The only light source is a squat lantern sitting on the ground between the two groups, and Goya uses it to do everything: the victim is lit like a stage and the soldiers are backs, hats and boots with no faces at all. Look at the raised right hand — there is a dark mark across the palm. The hill behind is a monastery. Nobody in it is heroic, which in 1814 was the shocking part.
On a Frame TV
About 5:4, so the matted file. The clean crop would take the lantern or the raised arms, and those are the picture. Extremely dark with one blazing white shirt: superb in a dim room, flat in daylight.
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- 4K master file (3840px+)
- Samsung Frame TV–ready crop
- Phone wallpaper crop
- Printable art card
Public domain · one .zip, no sign-up
More like this
Other works in the collection, starting with Francisco Goya.
