Francisco Goya
The GreaT hispanic heriTaGe
Isabel Allende
Jorge Luis Borges
Miguel de Cervantes
César Chávez
Roberto Clemente
Salvador Dali
Francisco Goya
Oscar De La Hoya
Dolores Huerta
Frida Kahlo
Jennifer Lopez
Gabriel García Márquez
José Martí
Pedro Martinez
Ellen Ochoa
Pablo Picasso
Tito Puente
Juan Ponce de León
Diego Rivera
Carlos Santana
Sammy Sosa
Pancho Villa
Francisco Goya
Tim McNeese
Francisco Goya
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1.Goya,Francisco,1746–1828.2.Artists—Spain—Biography.I.Title.II.Series.
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Contents
Introduction
6
1 Vague Beginnings
15
2 Schooling for Life
25
3 Marriage and Career
39
4 Tapestries of Life
47
5 “The Enlightened Ones”
60
6 Clouds of Revolution
72
7 A Disturbing Turn of Events
86
8 Rising Star, Dark Shadows
99
9 The Second of May and The Third of May 113
10 House of the Deaf Man
126
138
Notes
142
Bibliography
144
Further Reading
145
Picture Credits
146
Index
147
About the Author
151
Introduction
It should have been an easy campaign of conquest for
Napoleon’s well-trained, well-armed troops. The self-
proclaimed French emperor thought Spain might fall into
his lap within one week of fighting. His forces, the Grande
Armeé, easily appeared vastly superior in every way to
their Spanish counterparts. To Napoleon, the Spanish were
nothing, their military was “riddled with nepotism and
corruption, top-heavy with incompetent officers, anti-
quated in organization, badly equipped, ill-trained, and
small.”1 WhenthewarbetweentheFrenchandtheSpanish
began in 1808, the entire army of Spain numbered 115,000
men, of whom 15,000 were stuck in Denmark, due to an
earlier arrangement between Spain’s King Carlos IV and
Napoleon.
6
Introduction
7
Disparate armies
The largest problem Spain faced in its war with France was
notalackofsoldiersbutashortageofmoney.In1807,Spain’s
national income was 700 million reales. From 1807 to 1814,
aftersevenlong,bloodyyearsofwar,ithaddroppedtohalfas
much.Throughthoseyears,Spainwasbleddrybywar.
Duringtheearlymonthsof1808,thecallwentoutforall
singleandwidowedSpanishmenbetweentheagesof16and
40totakeuparmsonbehalfoftheking.Yetthisonlyresulted
in thousands of “enlistees” without the means necessary to
fight. Due to a lack of funds, this ragtag army “could not
be fed, shod, clothed, or even adequately armed.”2 Over the
following two years, things would worsen as several Spanish
colonies in the Americas revolted, depriving Spain of much-
neededassets.MilitaryconditionsinSpainwereterrible.For
everythreehorsestheSpanishcavalryneeded,onlytwowere
available. Almost no cavalrymen had helmets. The Spanish
were outnumbered by French cavalry by as many as five to
one. Artillery units were forced to use cannon made out of
woodenstavesheldtogetherbyironhoops,whichblewapart
after only a shot or two. In the Battle of Leon, the Spanish
actuallyoutnumberedtheFrencharmybymorethan10,000
men (23,000 to 13,000), but 9,000 Spanish soldiers had no
weapons,andtherewasnoSpanishcavalry.
YetFrenchdreamsofconqueringSpaininonlyoneweek
were soon dashed. Although the French army defeated the
Spanishinnearlyeverybattle,theycouldnotultimatelywin
thewartheyhadbroughttotheIberianPeninsulaofSpainand
Portugal,althoughtheinvadersdidtakecontroloftheSpanish
governmentforashortwhile.
Napoleon’smilitarycampaignagainstSpaincouldnothave
comeataworsetimefortheSpanishmonarchy.CarlosIVhad
risentothethrone20yearsearlierandhadruledSpainpoorly,
allowing its army to become ineffective and disorganized.
8
FRANCISCO GOyA
French emperor, Napoleon I (above), or Napoleon Bonaparte,
had acquired control of most of continental Europe by the end
of the eighteenth century. In 1808, his armies invaded Spain,
and in May, citizens in Madrid, rebel ing against the French
occupation troops, were gunned down. Years later, the heroic
uprising was captured on canvas by the great Spanish artist,
Francisco
Goya.
Introduction
9
Hewasnotverybrightandwasdominatedbyhiswife,Queen
Carloswasphysicallystrong,buthewasnotastrongleader.
rOYaL iNtriGUe
As Napoleon prepared to take control of Spain, the queen
and her son, Ferdinand, quarreled over which of them
should truly ruleSpain.Ferdinandplottedagainsthisfather,
buthisintriguewasuncoveredbyperhapstheonlyofficial
in the Spanish Bourbon court who had any political skills
whatsoever,ManueldeGodoy.Oncecaught,CrownPrince
Ferdinand“wasobligedtogrovelinapologybeforeCarlos,
whounwiselypardonedhim.”3Ferdinandrepaidhisfather’s
gracebyplottingagainstboththeking andGodoy.
Soon, however, French armies marched across Spanish
soil. To carry out his coup, Napoleon had sent his cousin,
the Grand Duke Joaquim Murat, to Spain. On March 23,
1808, Murat descended on Madrid with 50,000 troops. He
quicklygainedcontroloverthecityandoustedtheSpanish
royals in the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. King Carlos
abdicatedhisthronetoFerdinand,whoenteredMadridthe
followingdaytothecheeringofhisnewsubjects.Theweak
Carlos and his scheming queen were generally not liked
in Spain. With Ferdinand on the throne, many Spaniards
believedanewdaymightdawnfortheircountry.Theyfilled
the streets of Madrid, celebrating, cheering, and throw-
ing flowers. As Ferdinand’s carriage approached the Royal
Palace,peoplelaidtheircloaksoutonthestreetinhonorof
theirnewmonarch.
FerdinandwasconvincedNapoleonmeantnoharmtothe
Spanishroyalhouse.HeevenbelievedNapoleonwouldsup-
porthimasthenewmonarch.Ferdinandcouldnothavebeen
morewrong.Inspring1808,SpainwasswarmingwithFrench
troops.Napoleonseizedthethrone,givingfurtherstrengthto
his military posture in Madrid and throughout the Spanish
10
FRANCISCO GOyA
countryside. He ordered the deposed Ferdinand to travel
northintoexilewithhisparents.
TomakecertainthatSpainwasruledproperly,Emperor
Napoleonselectedoneofhisownbrothers,JosephBonaparte,
tobethenewkingofSpain.Josephwasloyaltohisconqueror-
brother. He had already proven himself to be the perfect
bureaucrat and national administrator by serving previously
astheemperorofNaples,anotherregionthatNapoleonhad
conquered.YetevenbeforetheselectionofJosephwasmade
public in Madrid, Spanish countrymen rose up against the
French.
IntakingthethronefromthehandsoftheSpanishroyal
family,Napoleonhadintendedtodestroyanyroyalconnec-
tioninSpaintotheBourbonfamily.TheBourbonswerethe
royalfamilywithlonghistoricalrootsinFrance.TheFrench
Revolution (1789–1799) had overthrown the Bourbon king
LouisXVIandbeheadedhim.WhenNapoleoncametopower
in1799,hemadehimselfrulerandemperor,establishinghis
own family line of royalty. He then sought to remove any
Bourboninfluencefromhiscountry.CarlosIVwasamember
oftheBourbons.
YetNapoleonwasnotcontenttoremovetheking,queen,
andcrownprincefrompower.TherewereotherBourbonsin
SpainaroundwhomtheSpanishpeoplemightpossiblyrally.
They included Carlos’s 13-year-old son, Prince Francisco de
Paula, and Carlos’s brother, Don Antonio, and his family.
Napoleon soon ordered the prince to be seized and taken
acrossthenorthernSpanishborderintosouthernFrance.This
decisionangeredthepeopleofSpain.Rumorsbegantospread
throughout Madrid, where the people were already enraged
that their monarchs had been removed not only from their
thrones but from the country itself. One rumor that fanned
theflamesofangerandfearwasthatNapoleonwasgoingto
execute the royal family. Such stories spread, “multiplied by
a thousand mouths,”4 leading to a series of violent events,
unfoldingearlyinMay1808.
Introduction
11
a street UprisiNG
About8 a.m. onMay2,SpanishsubjectsgatheredatthePuerta
del Sol, Madrid’s main plaza, near the Royal Palace. They
watchedasDonAntonioandhisfamilywasledoutofthepal-
acetowaitingcoaches.Accompanyingthemwas13-year-old
PrinceFrancisco.ThesightoftheFrenchtakingthelastofthe
royalSpanishfamilyintocaptivityangeredthecrowd.People
began to shout and jostle one another. Others rushed to the
plaza,andsoonthescenewascrowdedwithangry madrileños,
citizens of Madrid. They chanted in unison, “Long live the
kingandourroyals!DeathtoNapoleon!Frenchiesout,out,
out!”5Becauseoftheearlyhour,themajorityofthosegathered
inthestreetsweresimple,working-classcitizensontheirway
towork.
The people in the crowd soon produced weapons and
anythingtheycouldgettheirhandson—sticks,knives,clubs,
and even a handful of old guns. Fighting broke out. From
the upper-story windows and balconies of Spanish houses,
angry madrileños showered down everything from furniture
to boiling oil on the French. A flowerpot struck the general
of the Imperial Guard, killing him. The unplanned, random
uprising was an eruption of frustration and fear that would
shortly become an all-out riot against the French troops in
Madrid.TheFrenchtookswiftretributionwheretheycould,
as desperate Spaniards were mowed down by French bullets
onthePlazadeOriente.Whereanyshotshadbeenfiredfrom
ahouse,soldiersstormedinandkilledalltheresidents.The
Frencharmyrampagedthroughthecityandthesurrounding
countryside.Riflemenbrokedownthedoorsofalocalmonas-
teryanddecapitatedthemonks.
MostoftheactiontookplaceinthePuertadelSol,oneof
the busiest places in Madrid. There, rioters fought a detach-
ment of the Imperial Guard, including 24 Mamelukes. The
Mamelukes were Egyptian mercenaries whom the people
of Madrid loathed and feared for their excessive and brutal
tactics. The Mamelukes were attacked by rioters. Organizing
12
FRANCISCO GOyA
theirranks,theEgyptianschargedacrossthesquareandmet
the frenzied attacks of madrileños, who were wielding their
crude weapons. Some of the Mamelukes were dragged off
their horses and killed by the Spanish. Puerta del Sol was in
chaos,andcasualtiesonbothsideswereextensive.Although
thenumberisprobablyexaggerated,whenGrandDuk
eMurat
madeouthisreportoftheuprisingtoNapoleon,heclaimed
that“severalthousand”protestorshadbeenkilled.6
sWiFt reVeNGe
The fighting and rioting continued for two hours that
morning. Perhaps as many as 200 Spaniards were killed or
woundedintherioting.ThePuertadelSolwascoveredwith
bodies.Althoughtheriotingwasnotrenewedthefollowing
day,theFrenchtookdecisivestepsinresponsetothespon-
taneousuprising.FrenchtroopsbeganroundingupSpanish
subjects whom they thought might have been involved in
the riots. Hundreds were taken prisoner. On May 3, mass
executions took place across the city at selected sites: the
hospitalcourtyardnexttotheChurchofBuenSuceso;along
the Paseo del Prado, near the site where the famous Prado
Museumstandstoday;andattheMountainofPrincipePio,
asmallriseapproximately200yards(183meters)fromthe
LiriaPalace.Theaccusedreceivednotrials,andthekillings
werebrutal.FiringsquadsofFrenchsoldierscold-bloodedly
gunneddowntheSpanish.
Not far from the Mountain of Principe Pio lived the
most famous Spanish artist of the early nineteenth century,
FranciscoGoya.HowmuchhesawoftheriotingonMay2is
unknown.Didhewitnessthesebloodyevents?Didhepartici-
pate?WherewashewhenhisfellowSpaniardswererounded
upandshotdownthestreetfromhishome?Whatdidhesee?
Whatdidhehear?Whatdidhefeel?
The answers to these questions remain uncertain. Yet
these two days, May 2 and 3, 1808, would change not only
Spain’s future, but they would forever alter the career of
Introduction
13
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) was already an esteemed
court painter to the Spanish royalty and chronicler of Spanish life when the
events of May 2 and 3, 1808, occurred near his home in Madrid. This self-
portrait shows the artist at about 70 years of age.
Francisco Goya. Six years later, Napoleon would finally be
defeated.ArmiesfromGreatBritain,Prussia,andRussiagath-