Francisco Goya The Third Of May Analysis

The Third of May

The Third of May, painted by Francisco Goya depicts the battle at Medina del Rio Seco in Spain. Napoleon's troops marched into Medina del Rio Seco to be met by 21,000 Spanish troops protecting their city (mtholuoke.edu). When tensions between the French and the Spanish erupted in the streets of Madrid, it left approximately four hundred persons dead. Goya's painting reveals the fear and suffering of the Spanish, while Napoleon's troops show no mercy.

I came up with the idea to do my essay on The Third of May thanks to a class I took last fall called Art History 100. When the professor went over the painting, I immediately fell in love. The dark coloring, the emotions of the people, and the pure suffering this painting is able to show amazed me.

In the history class I was taught importance almost always starts in the center, and the character the artist wants to most present will be lighter than the rest of the painting. This is clearly shown in the

painting as the man with his hands in the air; this is who we want to most bring our attention to. The color of the main characters clothes is different to catch the attention of the viewer. His shirt is the only bright color in the entire painting and he was also known to be a soldier for the Spanish army.
Goya was able to use one man’s face to highlight the emotions of every soldier that was about to be shot. “Please don’t shoot!” are words that come to my mind as his friend lay there dead beside him. Fear is all over his face, as would be all over mine in this situation. A plead of innocence look to him, The Man has his arms spread in a "V" which represents peace, something Napoleon's troops clearly have no regard for (academia.edu). A man that previously fought for his country will now be dead, with a possible family to be left behind.
From the left, you see three men previously killed by the troops. I think if it was a camera, and you could move the camera even more left you would see many more bodies. As you look right you can see the troops with their guns; however, you cannot see the troop’s faces, but can notice their uniforms are very clean. I believe in order for the viewer create his own emotions for the troops, Goya had their backs turned. To the troops, the victims seem anonymous and worthless, while we can see otherwise.
The light source in the painting is a large lantern; its cold glare lights the cruel, pre-dawn killings.

Goya amazingly captures feelings of fear and sadness through pose, and expression as those waiting to die either watch with hands clasped in horror or cover their faces, unable to look at the slaughter before them.

The further right you look in the painting, you see the enormous line of the Spanish waiting to die. The town is slightly illuminated, and the sky is dark. These are things I believe were added for a realistic feeling, but were not what Goya was trying to express in this painting.

This painting is able to show in detail how emotional it was for the Spanish after the war. It flawlessly used colors and lighting to show importance of character. Goya was able to accurately demonstrate the patriotic view of the uprising and subsequent war, in which the Spanish cast the rioters of May second as defenseless heroes and innocent, modern-day martyrs and the French as brutal

oppressors.