Plate 36 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de La Guerra): 'Not [in this case] either' (Tampoco)

Art Historical Context

Plate 36, titled *Tampoco* ("Not either"), from Francisco de Goya y Luc's seminal series *The Disasters of War* (1810-1820), confronts viewers with the raw brutality of conflict. Created amid the Peninsular War (18081814), when Napoleon's forces invaded Spain, Goya 82 etchings document the atrocities committed by French troops and Spanish partisans alike. This plate, like others, captures death's grim reality—likely depicting a mutilated corpse amid chaos—serving as a powerful indictment of war's inhumanity. Goya, a master of Romanticism transitioning from court painter to unflinching social critic, used these works privately, publishing them posthumously in 1863. Goya's innovative printmaking techniques elevate the series' visceral impact. Etching provides precise lines, burnished aquatint adds moody tonal gradations mimicking washes, and drypoint delivers rich, velvety burrs for haunting textures. At just 6 by 8 inches, the intimate scale draws viewers close to the horror, amplifying its emotional punch. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this acquisition highlights its enduring value. *The Disasters of War* remains a cornerstone of anti-war art, influencing modern depictions of violence from Picasso's *Guernica* onward. Goya's stark realism transcends time, reminding us of war's universal toll on humanity.

About the Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) · 1746–1828

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker considered the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Rising from modest provincial origins to become First Court Painter to Charles IV, Goya's career spanned the Enlightenment's optimism and the brutal Napoleonic invasion that shattered it. A mysterious illness in 1793 left him permanently deaf and ...