Lam Yun Ying talk on Francisco Goya ,The Third of May ,1814

Individual presentation (5 minutes max) – 30%

Discuss the

The additional information of this artwork :

Artist :Francisco Goya

Title :The Third of May

Year :1814

Medium :Oil on canvas

Dimensions :268 × 347 cm (106 × 137 in

Description of the third of May

Composition :

It is shapeless and pathetic as old sacks

They are huddled together like animals.

In the face of Murat's firing squad they cover their eyes, or clasp their hands in prayer.

In the middle a man with a dark face throws up his arms, so that his death is just like a sort of crucifixion. His white shirt and laid open to the rifles, is the flash of inspiration which has ignited the whole design.

It just likes there are some special meaning or symbol of this artwork .  The innocent of the citizens.

 The condemned men stand before a firing squad on the hill Príncipe Pío, it is one of the executions took place.

 We can find that Goya have some special arrangement of the composition ,for example ,the figures to the left of the composition

They demand the attention of the viewers by using blood .

Character

The main figure who dressed in white, practically glows. Holding out his arms like crucified Christ.

The faceless French soldiers on the opposite side are rendered almost inhuman.

The firing squad mean that would reoccur time and again in the horrors of modern
war.

From my point of view , I have the following opinion of this artwork .

First, I find it is mysterious as the background just like a backcloth and the faceless firing squad enhance the mystery of this event ,we can’t see their emotion .The firing squad also make me feel horrifying.

Behind the hill Príncipe Pío or beside the hill ,It seems  that there are coming victims to come .

Then it makes the painting much more horrifying 

Detailed painting

When we focus on the white shirt man ,we can find that in his right hand , there are a stigma  , it just like the wound the crucified Christ has .

Moreover , the man also posing in an X shape and being illuminated him strongly by the lantern .

It just like symbol of the innocent of the citizens and iron the senseless of the government or solider .

Compare with the similar works

The artwork of Monet ‘Execution of the Emperor Maximilian’

Right hand side solider :Silent mode

And a group of solider :Firing

I think Monet’s work is better usage of   the color ,

For example the blue and the grey (cold color to represent the whole thing and the ignorance of the government.

But the amazement do not look like  the third of May .

And the artwork of Pablo Picasso ‘Massacre Korea’

To the left, a group of naked women and children are seen situated at the foot of a mass grave.

On the right hand side ,a few armed "knights" stand to the right, also naked, but equipped with "hard muscles The firing squad is poised as in Goya.

In this artwork , I do really appreciate his present of this event ,his better use the tone of color present the cold and iron of the solider / government .

The Meaning of The third of May

 After this artwork , I can find that Goya do wanna awake the citizen the sense of belonging of the nationalism and emphasize on the aspect of political .

One key quote about the work in question

The Third of May is a work of the imagination. Goya is sometimes spoken of as a realist, but if the word means anything, it means a man who paints what he can see and only what he can see. By a curious chance there exists a sort of version of The Third of May painted by the perfect realist, Manet's Execution of the Emperor Maximilian. Manet had frequently poured scorn on subjects of this kind. "The reconstruction of a historic scene. An historic event painted in this flat and inexpressive way really is as pointless as Manet maintained it to be. Perhaps that is why he cut up his large version (the smaller study survives), so that the fragment of a soldier examining his rifle might be appreciated for what it is, an admirable study of a model.

Mark Harden. “GOYA, Francisco: The Shootings of May Third 1808.” Mark Harden's Artchive, March 2008. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/goya/may_3rd.jpg.html.

My Questions

Is that important to the painting that the content is really truth or not ?

  In my opinion , the content need not to be exactly the fact or the truth .Otherwise , the artists would lost their freedom to create artwork ,then the quaility of artwork would also lower . So I support the artwork should based on the artists' creation .

The Question leave to the class

  After this artwork , I can find that Goya do wanna awake the citizen the sense of belonging of the nationalism and emphasize on the aspect of political . But nowadays , there something change for example brand name products is a good artwork , I do wanna

 the definition of 'a good artwork' ?

‘beautiful ?’ ‘trendy’? ‘Religious’?‘Social and political’?

or the other that the classmates discussed in the class , for example the story or history of the artwork ,the content  e.t.c

work you have chosen in some detail. Show that you have read about the work in the required reading and that you have also read additional materials that you have found independently. Unless you have a special reason, do not include the biography of the artist in this brief talk. In the best presentations it will be clear that the speaker has thought deeply about one work of art and what s/he has read about it, forming his/her own opinions about what it means, and how this meaning is communicated.