Francisco de Goya (b. 1746, Fuentedetodos)

Garroted Man

ca. 1775-78, etching and burin on smooth wove paper. Sheet: 43 × 31 cm; plate: 32.7 × 21 cm,

National Gallery of Art, Washington, marked as public domain.

This independent print is the earliest by Goya to address the humanitarian concerns he would later repeat in The Disasters of War series. We do not know the identity of the prisoner, and both the crucifix he holds and garment he wears are like those given by religious orders to lay devotees.  The image seems to be aimed at inciting the viewer’s abhorrence and compassion. Garroting, although rare, was an official method of execution, and Goya returned to it in two of the Disasters of War prints. Only a few impressions of the print were distributed at the time, but interest in it grew in the 19th century with the rise of Realism and the “Age of Revolutions”.