Goya's Disasters of War

Francisco de Goya's series, the Disasters of War, remains one of the strongest accusations against the horrors and tragedies of war to date. Reflecting the suffocating atmosphere of violence that surrounded Spain at the time, Disasters of War attacks the senselessness of war itself and makes a desperate appeal to all that is good in man. Although sources are unanimous in asserting that Goya was not physically in the midst of any actual violence, Goya acts as a witness to the series insofar as he was subjected to and deeply aware of the current violent events that characterized Spain during the Peninsular War. Disasters of War should be considered the true ancestor to all great visual war reporting because, like a new photographer, Goya successfully captured events of war in the instant they were committed, making visible what is often too difficult to capture with words. Goya's war does not appear noble or heroic like the majority of nineteenth century war depictions. Rather, it is full of killing, famine, and rape, confronting viewers with images similar to those seen in contemporary war documentaries. Hostility between French troops and Spanish citizens increased violently between 1807 and 1808 leading up to the outbreak of the Peninsular War. During this time Goya remained in Madrid, continuing to serve as court painter to the Spanish Monarchy under Ferdinand VII. It was not until October of 1808, when the Napoleonic troops began their assault on the area of Saragossa and Fuendetodos, that the painter saw cause to become involved in the war. Fuendetodos, the city where Goya was born, had always remained close to the painter's heart and when he was invited to sketch the atrocities occurring in the region he accepted and began the journey from Madrid. Traveling through the Spanish countryside allowed Goya to see the horrors of warfare as they were being executed and upon reaching Fuendetodos in October, the painter was rightly appalled by the acts of