Ravages of War 18th-19th century

Editor: Here we have Goya’s intaglio print, "Ravages of War." What a scene of complete devastation! The figures are piled haphazardly, like discarded dolls. What am I meant to feel when looking at this? Curator: A punch to the gut, perhaps? Goya isn’t interested in pretty battle scenes. It's a raw, unflinching look at the human cost. Notice how the chaotic composition mirrors the chaos of war itself. There’s no glory here, just bodies. The so-called spoils, I suspect. Editor: So, he’s stripping away the romanticism of war, leaving us with... this. It's brutal. Curator: Precisely. It's a testament to Goya's genius and his courage to show what others preferred to ignore. Makes you think, doesn’t it? I imagine he wanted this to linger in our minds.