Francisco de Goya (b. 1746, Fuentedetodos)

The Burial of the Sardine

ca. 1812-19, oil on weed, 82.5 cm × 62 cm.

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. Marked as public domain.

The Burial of the Sardine (Entierro de la Sardina) is a three-day Carnival which still takes place in Madrid. Masked and disguised revellers dance through the streets to the banks of the Manzanares River, where a ceremonial sardine is buried. Unlike traditional Christian carnivals, which end on Shrove Tuesday, this one happens on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Goya’s painting of the jolly crowd seems to be a dig at the Spanish Catholic Church and a tribute to the common people who refused to be censored by it. The sinister "King of the Carnival" on the banner at the centre of the painting may indeed symbolise the terrifying face of the Spanish Inquisition.

The celebration of Carnival, in which for a few days people can misbehave and indulge in eating and drinking before the sacrifices of Lent, dates to early Medieval times. Costumes and masks allow people to “let go” without fear of punishment but also to experience a sense of coming together regardless of social status. Nevertheless, the shadow of death is ever present as Christians start preparing for Good Friday. The "Burial of the Sardine” came to be associated with those who had died violently, and the word "mortus" ("death") appears on the banner. However, given Goya’s repeated critiques of superstition and its encouragement by the Spanish Church, perhaps he saw this as a celebration of everything that needed to change as Spain emerged from the terrible Napoleonic occupation.