Essay – Painting Analysis & Reflection Assignment
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Chamberlain University College of Nursing *
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SPCH277N
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Arts Humanities
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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Uploaded by abbygayleblackwood
1
Painting Analysis & Reflection
Abbygayle Blackwood
Chamberlain University
HUMN303N
Professor Erin Morris
September 17
th
, 2023
2
Expressions Through Painting
“S
hooting of May 3
rd
, 1808”
“Shooting of May 3
rd
, 1808” by Francisco Goya's was completed in the year 1814. It
depicts Napoleonic forces hunting down and killing Spanish guerillas after the Madrid uprising.
The picture shows the repressive troops' faces hidden beneath a veil, while the victims' features
are still visible.
Romanticism was the artistic trend that influenced the painting's creation. According to
Shui et al. (2021) the Romanticism movement sought to portray the most profound facets of
social and political existence. By revealing the faces of justice's victims, the artwork sought to
illustrate the concept of justice. Between the 1700s and 1830, this movement took place (Martin
et al., 2019). By allowing paintings to contain emotions, the work reached out to freedom and
expression.
The picture was done in a highly individualistic, inventive, and emotive manner by Goya.
The artwork expresses a viewpoint on open injustices when oppressors are not identified by the
concealing, and revealing of the faces of the troops and victims. The project outright exposed the
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psychological terrain of conflict (Ztürk et al., 2021). While injustices are unavoidably
committed, people responsible for committing political and social injustices frequently escape
punishment.
Political factors played a role in some of this work's inspirations. By ordering their forces
to massacre large numbers of prisoners, the Napoleonic government engaged in coercive political
behavior that was meant to be exposed. Goya made the decision to make the trauma more
evident after observing the terrible and severe treatment by the government (Rendall, 2019). The
picture thus revealed the political inequities that would elicit responses and demand change.
History was the painting's other major inspiration. The image entered Goya's head due to
the existence of that kind of history. Artwork preserving that history would keep the record of a
repressive administration accessible. Maintaining the image would prevent future harm from
becoming as severe as that depicted in the painting. In fact, the image gives history many words
that would otherwise go unspoken. It brings the actual occurrences closer to memory.
Reading the articles that describe the painting as part of my studies helps me appreciate
the piece of art more. I could verify, with reference to the photograph, to the positions taken by
several authors who attempted to describe the picture and express their opinions on the artwork.
I see the context of the work as aiding in referencing the image through expressions and
freedom. The nature of the abuses committed against the victims is plainly visible by the
expressions in the picture. The freedom that the image depicts has two sides, in my opinion. One
is the denial of the victims' freedom, and the other is the freedom accorded to the soldiers who,
despite their crimes, continue to be unpunished.
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References
Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. A. (2019). The Humanities Through The Arts (10th ed.).
McGraw-Hill Education.
Öztürk, Ö. T., & Demir, E. (2021). Reflection of the Social Effects of War on Art in the
Context of Art Sociology. International Society for Technology, Education, and Science.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED625304
Rendall, M. T. (2019). Goya Reclaimed: Contemporary Artists' Appropriation of
Francisco de Goya's Work for a Contemporary Consumption (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Houston).
https://search.proquest.com/openview/c767e5fd12ef57b4cdc3c5b59a2bbaf3/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=44156
Shui, G., Wang, Q., & Zhao, Z. (2022). Rebelling or Reconstruction:
A New Understanding of the Classical by the Romantic Painters with Exploration
Centered on Francisco Goya.
Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences
,
1
,
295–301.
https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v1i.674