The Goya Code Chapter 4: Three Kings and an Emperor for the Crown of Spain
Fig 1. - Principal characters of the Pilgrimage of San Isidro. Photo by Mariano Candial
By Antonio Muñoz-Casayús
MONTREAL
.- The War of Independence against Napoleon has begun. There is no turning back. Francisco de Goya was the war correspondent and the witness to all of the aberrations committed, transmitting them to us through his impressive engravings and paintings. There has never been a good war, nor has there been a bad peace. (Baltasar Gracián. 1601- 1658. Jesuit, philosopher and writer).
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
On February 28, 1808, Napoleon invades Spain and under the pretext of reinforcing his army on the Portuguese front, he begins his incursion by sending in tens of thousands of well supplied soldiers.