The Private Life of a Masterpiece
Francisco Goya: The Third of May 1808
Directed by Lucie Donahue, Mick GoldS3 • E2 Jan 26, 2004 50m
8.3
Goya's greatest painting is a nightmarish image of anonymous men being shot at point blank range by a robot-like firing squad. Commissioned to commemorate a heroic moment in Spanish history, the king was not pleased with its brutal imagery and it was largely forgotten until artists such as Manet and Picasso saw it as the first masterpiece to put the victims of war centre stage.
