In 1807, Napoleon sent an army into Spain. Supposedly, the French army was allied with the Spanish army in a campaign to conquer Portugal. But soon it became apparent that the French were also there to conquer Spain. Napoleon’s brother Joseph was put on the throne. England sent an army to Portugal and the Peninsular War began. In May of 1808, the citizens of Madrid had had enough of French rule. A spontaneous revolt broke out. It was ruthlessly put down by Marshal Joachim Murat. On May 3, 1808, Murat ordered the execution of any rebel caught with a weapon. Hundreds were killed. It was a bad mistake by the French as it enraged the Spanish people. They realized that street-fighting would not do it. Instead, they turned to guerrilla (a Spanish word for “small war”) warfare to make French occupation forces howl. The partisans and the British army were able to force the French out in 1814. To commemorate that, the provisional government commissioned artist Francisco Goya to do some paintings. Goya, who had supported the enlightened French when they first arrived, decided to forego the expected patriotic scene in favor of an anti-war depiction. “Dos de Mayo Uprising” (The Third of May Uprising) became one of his masterpieces.
The painting has been called the “first modern painting”. Art historian Kenneth Clark described it as “the first great picture which can be called revolutionary in every sense of the word, in style, in subject, and in intention.” Previous war paintings had glorified war and were stilted. Goya paints the French soldiers as a faceless unit. The victims are individuals. The central figure is Christlike (note the stigmata on his hands), but he is not a martyr. He represents the Spanish people who were repressed by the French army. The painting is depressing and does not foretell the eventual victory of the people over the French. It does clearly show the horrors of war and its effect on the public. This might explain why the painting was not well-received for decades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_of_May_1808
https://smarthistory.org/goya-third-of-may-1808/
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-goyas-third-may-forever-changed-way-war
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