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Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
Spanish, 1746-1828
A Heroic Feat! With Dead Men!, plate 39 from The Disasters of War, c. 1812/15, published 1863
Etching, lavis and drypoint on ivory wove paper with gilt edges
138 x 187 mm (image); 155 x 205 mm (plate); 240 x 340 mm (sheet)
Gift of J. C. Cebrian, 1920.1344
Harris 159 III/III (1st edition, b); Delteil 158; Gassier and Wilson III.1055; Pérez Sánchez & Gállego 39
This harrowing image mocks any notion of the possibility of heroic or admirable consequences of war. Yet much later, Vargi Aivazian of the TASS Window studio turned horror into humor by using this very image as inspiration for his sardonic TASS 634, Holiday Tree Ornaments.
— Exhibition label, Belligerent Encounters: Graphic Chronicles of War and Revolution, 1500–1945, July 31–October 23, 2011, Galleries 124–127.
