What more can be done? (Qué hai que hacer mas?), Plate 33 of The Disasters of War
About this artwork
This print shows French soldiers brutally mutilating a Spaniard by cutting him in half with a sword. Few images of war have shown the deliberate acts of cruelty that man is capable of inflicting on fellow individuals as strongly as this. Many of the titles that Goya chose for his prints were almost conversational, giving the sense that he was directly addressing his viewer. Here, he posed a question with apparent detachment, asking the viewer whether it was possible to do anything more cruel than what is being shown. This challenge to imagine further acts of depravity underlines the degenerative nature of war, and by comparison, the total collapse of the progressive Age of Enlightenment.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Francisco de Goya (1746 - 1828) Spanish
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title:What more can be done? (Qué hai que hacer mas?), Plate 33 of The Disasters of War
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date created:Etched about 1810 - 1820; published 1863
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materials:Etching, lavis, drypoint, burin and burnisher on paper
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measurements:Plate mark: 15.50 x 20.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1967
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accession number:P 2704.59
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gallery:
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subject:
Francisco de Goya
Francisco de Goya
Goya, born in Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, Spain, was an original and enigmatic artist, equally gifted as a painter and printmaker. His appointment in 1786 as painter to the Spanish King Charles IV followed a period in Madrid where he had moved from the north east of Spain. Goya's reputation was built on...
