Rubens’ Three Graces and Goya’s Third of May Shootings: Masterpieces of European Art
Three Graces
Three Graces is the most famous work of Rubens. It was acquired by Philip IV from the assets of the painter, auctioned after his death, on May 30, 1640, and went on to decorate one of the rooms of the Alcázar in Madrid. Being painted on a panel displays the relationship of the master with the Flemish old masters. The Three Graces were called Euphrosyne, Thalia, and Aglaea, and were daughters of Zeus and Eurynome. They always appear naked, as beauty does not need to be concealed. They are representations of kindness, sympathy, and delicacy. The theme and its treatment date back to classical art, but it was Raphael, in the Renaissance, who revived it. Rubens kept the composition of the Italian, but emphasized the relationship between the three figures, who are connected through their arms, the veil, and their looks, that is, psychologically, giving the group a new unity. He changed the canon of beauty, using his typical style, with women of flesh but proportionate and elegant. The sense of movement and grace that the three girls radiate is excellent, giving the effect of inviting the viewer to join the scene. The flowers of the wreath at the top and the landscape at the bottom accentuate the beauty of the whole. The strong light source that the master uses highlights the pearl of the girls, whose faces some believe to recognize the features of the painter’s two wives—Isabella Brant and Hélène Fourment—while others say they are different variations of the latter. Feminine beauty in Rubens’ painting is summarized in this fine trio.
Shootings of May 3
Shootings of May 3: Back in 1814, after the expulsion of the French who had invaded Spain, Goya made these two paintings, On May 2 and 3 May in Madrid, for which he received a sum of money from the Regency. Goya at the time was suspected of being pro-French, and he started to feel persecuted or threatened by the returned Ferdinand VII. Apart from the strong impression that the war had caused on him, which led him to create his famous Disasters, these two paintings allowed him to somehow assert his allegiance to the Spanish people, beyond his intellectual commitments that approached him to the culture and policy of the Enlightenment. In all his works, the main protagonist is the people, an anonymous mass, a collective hero, and not a particular individual like a victorious general or king on the battlefield. This concept is clearly Romantic and a modern understanding of war and national achievements, which are attributed to the people and their will, rather than to their leaders. The painting depicts the Mamluks, Egyptian guards who were part of the French troops, notorious for their ferocity in the attacks on the civilian population. In this scene of shootings, what we see are the consequences of the resistance in Madrid. The composition of the scene determines the characteristics of the two protagonist groups: first, those executed, offering their faces to the viewer, and the group of executioners, ordinary faces, frightened and desperate, a gallery of portraits of fear that Goya offers. Each one is caught in a different position, depending on their attitude to death; one covers his face because he cannot stand it, while another opens his arms outstretched, offering his breast to the bullets. This particular character is awfully dramatic because he looks directly at the soldiers, and his white shirt attracts the spotlight as a warning of approaching death. At his feet, the bodies of those executed earlier fall in disorder. Behind, others sentenced to death await their turn to be shot. The other group, parallel to the first, comprises the French soldiers who will execute the patriots. The soldiers have their backs to the viewer, who cannot see their faces, as they have no importance: they are anonymous executioners, executing an order. Their background is a perfect, deadly effective alignment, together with a movement in all of them, their operation terrifies. They are all in a night scene, outdoors, in an indefinite place, but it was historically known as the Príncipe Pío mountain, where, according to the chronicles, the weapons were passed to the rebels the previous day. Goya’s brushwork is quite loose, independent of the drawing, which creates a grim atmosphere through the lights, colors, and smoke. The composition was virtually copied by a great admirer of Spanish painting, the Impressionist Manet, for his Execution of Maximilian in Mexico. Both the May 2 and May 3 paintings have been shown in the Museo del Prado from the start. The only time they were moved was during the evacuation that the Republicans made in 1936 to safeguard the great works of painting in the Prado during the Civil War.