The style in which the figures are handled in “The 3rd of May” is similar to that of some of his first commissions as court painter as the faces have an almost cartoon element. Goya had a skill of capturing wider moral meaning in the faces of people, this often made his earlier ‘traditional’ portraits of the monarchy slightly unconventional. The city of Madrid is only suggested behind the hill with the buildings outlined in a loose and vague manner. After Goya became ill and lost his hearing completely his style evolved to be bolder and freer and often darker and more sinister and sometimes even caricature-esque. As shown in this work and in others, he often painted haunting satires depicting the flaws of humanity. In Goya’s “2nd and 3rd of May” paintings he painted war and it’s consequences with an amount of realism never before witnessed and with this paintings ability to depict the horror of the events Goya became one of the pioneers of the expressionist movement. It is because of this and his other revolutionary works that he earned the title of the first modernist, however this is somewhat limiting as Goya was a painter of great mystery and suspense.
The tragic importance of the events depicted in the painting are highlighted because they are set against a dark, barren hill beneath a heavy night sky. A huge lantern on the ground, in-between the executioners and their victims, provides the only light source. This lantern casts an eerie light across the faces of the heroic victims, highlighting their tortured expressions. It also accentuates the vivid brightness of the white shirt worn by a kneeling figure with arms outstretched in courageous defeat. This figures posture is mirrored with haunting consequence by the position of the corpse, sprawled across the ground, in front of him. The figure in the white shirt is very much the focal point of the painting as it is the only point at which the colour tones are drastically varied, throughout the rest of the painting the colours are muted and similar in their dark and gloomy nature. This figure has a kind of effervescent glow that almost has angelic, religious connotations. There is a sense of the inevitability of death with the group facing the executioners arranged in positions that give a sense of them cascading downwards towards the ever growing heap of corpses in the left of the painting. The crowd of cowering bodies with their fearful postures and expressions is contrasted to the harsh, impersonal, uniformed and military line of soldiers facing them. These dramatic qualities help depict the horrific atmosphere of the scene.
Goya had a talent of finding universally relevant and timeless meanings in specific events, in this work Goya is showing the consequence of war and the atrocities that occur during times of war. This painting is both subjective – in recording an event of historical importance, and objective – in showing Goya’s own strong personal feelings with it’s empathy for the anonymous victims and it’s celebration of their heroism. As this work shows the extreme patriotism of a number of Spanish people the painting itself communicates a sense of patriotism and respect for the Spanish people repressed by the French during the War of Independence. It is a symbol of the defence of liberty by the Spanish people and so a work of immense importance both at the time it was painted and in present circumstances.
This painting and its counterpart “The 2nd of May” were painted in 1814 after the re-establishment of the Spanish throne, to ‘celebrate the heroism of the people of Madrid’. At the time Goya was under investigation with regards to his behaviour during the French Occupation, namely on account of his controversial ‘Mayas’(fashionable young women.) However Goya offered to paint the 2nd and 3rd of May paintings and so was retained as first painter to the new court. These paintings are therefore commissions of the Regency Council governing Spain.
After Goya’s completion of the two paintings they were put on the Arch of Triumph that was built in honour of King Ferdinand VII’s return to Madrid. This painting was, and still is, looked upon as Spain’s greatest symbol of independence. Currently it is on display in the same hall as its counterpart in the Museo del Prado in Madrid and serves as one of the most powerful and harrowing anti-war statements made by an artist.
