Defence of the Convent of Santa Engracia in Zaragoza, 1809
1890. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
The defence of the Convent of Santa Engracia (Zaragoza) took place during the second siege (21-12-1808/21-2-1809) of the city by Marshal Jean Lannes (1769–1809) in the Peninsula War (1808–1814).
The painting was awarded the 2nd medal in the 1890 National Exhibition of Fine Arts (No. 608). In the catalogue of the exhibition, it was described as follows based on an extract from the General History of Spain by Modesto Lafuente: ‘Lannes had to forbid his officers to advance in the open, and to prevent further bloodshed, he ordered them to use only the mattox and the same for blowing up buildings. Let us hear how this distinguished marshal expressed himself in his dispatch of the 28th (January 1809) to the emperor: Sir, I have never seen a fierceness equal to that shown by our enemies in the defence of this square. I have seen the women allowing themselves to be killed before the breach, every house requires a new assault. He said this after having sent a member of parliament, who brought in response, that they were ready to defend every last wall. After having fought deadly and useless battles to take the convents of Saint Augustine and Santa Mónica, after having disputed the position of an outpost of houses adjoining Santa Engracia, not only house by house, but floor by floor and room by room’.
