Plate 63 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra): 'Harvest of the dead' (Muertos recogidos)
Original title: Plate 63 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra): 'Harvest of the dead' (Muertos recogidos)
kurzbeschreibung
A heap of lifeless bodies lies on bare ground—this is plate 63 from Goya's series 'The Disasters of War' (Los Desastres de la Guerra), made in 1811–12 but not published until 1863. The etching with burnished aquatint ranks among the darkest works in the series.
Description
Body upon body, faces turned to the earth, wrapped in plain dark garments—so the dead are lined up across the plate. A powerful shadow falls over them, deepening the gravity of the moment. Behind, an almost black zone stretches out, readable as sky or landscape; on the right, the fragment of a wooden post juts into the image. The sparse light comes from above and brings out the shadows. Grey on grey dominates the sheet and reinforces the sombre undertone.
Context
Between 1810 and 1820, the series emerged as a response to the Napoleonic Wars in Spain and the subsequent restoration. During Goya's lifetime, the plates remained unpublished; only in 1863 did the Academia de San Fernando produce the first edition. 'Ernte der Toten' (Harvest of the Dead) belongs to the later plates, in which the consequences of war for the civilian population take centre stage.
Impact
The compact posture of the figures and the harsh shadows strike the viewer immediately. Because colour is reduced to shades of grey and the light falls only weakly, a mood of hopelessness sets in that echoes emotionally.
Technique
Laid out as an etching with burnished aquatint, the process allows fine lines and soft tonal gradations. Areas of the aquatint were burnished to gain highlights, while the dark areas resulted from strong acid biting. The plate measures 15 × 20.5 cm, the sheet 25.3 × 34.5 cm.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)