Goya's The Disasters of War: A Masterpiece of Anti-War Printmaking

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), founder of the national genre in Spain, created The Disasters of War between 1810 and 1820. The series, originally titled Fatal Consequences of Spain's Bloody War with Bonaparte, and Other Emphatic Caprices, comprises 82 prints divided into three parts: 47 plates depicting soldiers' atrocities, 16 plates on the 1811-12 famine, and the final plates on post-war repressive politics. Goya, who became court painter to Charles IV in 1788, was profoundly affected by the Peninsular War. The series shows the brutality of war through victims' eyes, with captions like 'They Do Not Want To' and 'One Cannot Look At This.' The Disasters of War was first published 35 years after Goya's death, as it criticized both French and Spanish monarchs.