Plate 49 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra): 'A woman's charity' (Caridad de una muger)
Original title: Plate 49 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra): 'A woman's charity' (Caridad de una muger)
kurzbeschreibung
Francisco de Goya made this print as plate 49 of his series 'The Disasters of War'. It shows a woman tending to a wounded man lying on the ground. The etching dates from 1811–12, though it was not printed until 1863. It is executed as an etching with lavis, burin, and burnisher on paper.
Description
A woman in a long garment leans over a man on the ground who appears wounded, offering him aid. Beside her stands another person in dark clothing, involved in the scene. Additional figures can be made out by a wall in the back. Diffuse light brings the helping woman into focus. The image remains in gray tones, achieved through etching and lavis.
Context
This print belongs to Goya's series 'The Disasters of War', created between 1810 and 1820, which deals with the Spanish War of Independence and the famine that followed. The series was not published until 1863, 35 years after the artist's death, by the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. 'Caridad de una muger' presents charity amid violence and misery, a motif that recurs several times in the series.
Impact
Because attention is entirely on the helping woman and the wounded man, the print hits directly and feels close. The restrained color and soft light heighten the seriousness and humanity of the moment. In the midst of war's cruelty, Goya thus captures an instant of neighborly love.
Technique
The print is executed as an etching with lavis, in which brush and acid are used to create tonal gradations. Burin and burnisher were also employed to work out lines and details. Only the interplay of these methods allows the nuanced rendering of light and shadow in monochrome gray values.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)