The disasters of war

Goya’s great Disasters Of War was one of his four epic series of prints. It is probably the most dramatic, intense and poignant of these works. His images reflect the horror, cruelty and violence of war and the extreme depravity of behaviour on both sides of the war between French troops and Spanish partisans Goya describes as “rabble”. They also evoke the misery, hunger and suffering of the victims as well as the cynicism and moral turpitude of the powerful: their selfishness, ignorance and sanctimony.

Bitter and disillusioned, Goya started the plates in 1810, but, out of fear of backlash for his fierce criticism in the atmosphere of absolutist repression under Ferdinand VII, he never printed the Disasters in his lifetime. Thus, the greatest anti-war statement in the history of art did not see light of day until 1863 in an edition done by the Real Calcografía for the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

This excellent 4th edition, from 1906, merited the following comment by Tomás Harris in his canonical Goya: Lithographs and Engravings. Complete Illustrated Catalogue: “The edition was limited to 275. This edition is printed on very excellently suitable papers.”