106. U no hai remedio (And There’s Nothing to be Done), from Los Desastres de la Guerra (the Disasters of War), Plate 15. Francisco de Goya. 1810-1823 ce (published 1863) Etching, drypoint, burin, and burnishing.

Disasters of War
• Context
  • Original title: “Fatal Consequences of Spain’s Bloody War with Bonaparte and Other Emphatic Caprices.”
  • Artwork was critical of the French occupation of Spain and the subsequent Spanish rulers
  • Influenced by Spain’s continuous warfare
  • Eighty etchings and aquatints
  • Published in 1863, 35 years after the artist’s death
  • Explores themes of war, famine, and politics
• Technique
  • Goya used a combination of etching and drypoint
  • Etching gives the work fine details
  • Drypoint is added to the metal etched plate. The rough burr at the sides of the incised lines yield a velvety black tone in the print.
  • The effect is a very rich black and white surfaces

And There's Nothing to be done
• Bitterly ironic and sardonic
• Guns at very close-range point toward the victims, assumedly Spanish patriots, who will be summarily killed by French soldiers.
• The mangled body on the ground accentuates the sense of despair
• Are civilians or soldiers being shot? Ambiguity intentional
• Central figure is seen in a Christ-like pose
• Compositional elements reference Goya’s painting called The Third of May 1808