The Romantic Art

The Second of May 1808, Francisco Goya

This painting was painted by Francisco Goya in 1814. He was a well known Romantic artist; he had done many paintings that represent many themes of romanticism. In this painting there is a man in the direct middle on a horse with a very detailed facial expression. The detail and location of this man shows the importance of individualism; a major theme of Romanticism. Another themes is the awe of nature. Goya captures this by showing large, strong horses going wild; meaning that nature can't be controlled. The man on the ground labelled "3" had a angry expression on his face. Goya is representing the theme of emotion through the facial expression of the people in this painting. Some are furious while others are scared. Lastly, Goya shows horrid images of dead men on the ground, falling off a horse, and one in the midst of being killed. Grotesque and horrid images is a theme of Romanticism because it shows the bad sad of the world, the unstructured, and unorganized side of humanity. Romanticism is the counter-part of Enlightenment; one is controlled and sees the good, while the other is uncontrollable and sees the bad.