formularioRDF
The itinerary <em>TITULORECORRIDO</em> has been successfully created. Now you can add in works from the Collection browser
<em>TITULOOBRA</em> added to <em>TITULORECORRIDO</em> itinerary

Close Continuar a ficha de la obra Continuar a ficha de la obra
05-03-2026
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

Fuendetodos, Zaragoza (Spain), 1746 - Bordeaux (France), 1828

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes See author's file

The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid, or “The Executions”

1814. Oil on canvas.
Room 064

In the December of 1813, King Ferdinand VII’s return to Spain and his entry into Madrid were announced in by the Treaty of Valençay, which that year ended the Peninsular War Fernando who had been a prisoner of Napoleon in France since his own abdication in 1808, the absent king commenced his return to Spain in February of 1814, his pledge to the 1812 Constitution being the condition of his restoration to the throne. His arrival in Madrid would coincide with the first commemoration of the uprising of the people of the city against the occupying French on the 2nd of May 1808. Between February and March 1814, the Regency Council –chaired by the infante Luis María de Borbón y Villabriga–, the Cortes, and the Madrid City Council began preparations for the ceremonial arrival of the king. The bibliography on The 2nd of May 1808 in Madrid or “The Fight against the Mamelukes” (P000748) and its companion painting, The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid or “The Executions” (P000749), wrongfully considered that these pieces of art were painted so as to be exhibited in the streets of Madrid. In fact, neither the documents regarding the ceremony, nor the descriptions of the temporarily erected monuments and their allegorical ornamentation, mention the paintings by Goya. Several invoices concerning the payments for the frames of these two paintings, have recently been located in the Royal General Archive These expenses were registered as ‘King’s Bedchamber’ in July and November 1814, thus implying that they were funded by the king for the Palace rooms, and that they were most certainly painted after May 1814. However, it was the Regency Council which commissioned the work in February, according to the documents from the Ministry of Governance and the minister, Juan Álvarez Guerra. On the 24th of May, Goya’s conditions to carry out the job were accepted. Allegedly, it was the minister himself who proposed Goya for these paintings, because of "the paramount importance of such a praiseworthy undertaking and the undisguised ability of the said professor to carry it out... that while the aforementioned Goya is employed in this work, the Treasury should remunerate him –in addition to what he has invested in canvases, priming, and colours according to his own accounts– the sum of one thousand and five hundred reales per month by way of compensation... so that such an illustrious and distinguished Professor does not lack the means of subsistence in his advanced age". On the 11th of May, two days before his arrival to Madrid, Ferdinand VII arrested the ministers of the government of the Regency, exiled the infante to Toledo and abolished the Constitution. The invoices for the manufacture of two frames for "the large pictures of paintings referring to the 2nd of May 1808" state that they were finished on 29 November 1814, the date from which they must have been hung in the Palace, although there is no record of this.

Goya only painted two canvases with reference to the episodes of the 2nd of May 1808, instead of four that the bibliography often mentions. This is evidenced in the invoices for the frames, since it was a commission by the Regency that was later maintained by the King following the regulatory procedure for Court commissions. He proposed two topics as crucial topics, visually complementary. Both have a joint meaning: the fierce onslaught of the people of Madrid against Murat’s troops during the morning of the Second of May, and the subsequent retaliation of the French army. Goya chose for this last subject –which were already underway by the afternoon of the very same 2nd of May, in the paseo del Prado and in broad daylight–to represent the night executions and the rainy night of the 3rd of May on the outskirts of Madrid. This provides the scene with a greater drama.

In the 19th century, Charles Yriarte, in his monograph on Goya, took for granted that the artist had set the scene in the area of the barracks of Príncipe Pío, where important executions had taken place. The executions, however, were carried out in many other places in Madrid, including its main gates. Goya’s setting has been also identified as the slope of la Moncloa, near the plaza de los Afligidos, beside the old convent of San Bernardino, near the palace of Liria, or the urbanisation between the mountain of Príncipe Pío and the Royal Palace. In any case, the scenery set by Goya does not match the area of Príncipe Pío. It rather resembles the area at the outside of the Puerta de la Vega –which was located at the end of calle Mayor, although it was demolished in 1820– in the outline of the church towers and in the massive gate, as well as in the arrangement of the houses in the background or in the embankment to the left. Therefore, the tallest tower might be the tower of the church of Santa Cruz, which was then known as ‘the watchtower of Madrid’, as it was the tallest in the city and it could be seen from further away. The other one, lower, might be the tower of Santa María la Real, the church of the Palace. The slope against which the men are being shot would be the lands near the Palace, which is to be found to the left, outside the view of the painting. In this Goya could have been suggesting that the killing of the rebels was a consequence of their defence of the Crown, as in The 2nd of May 1808 in Madrid or “The Fight against the Mamelukes” (P000748). The valiant patriots of that morning, helpless and hopeless, now face the firing squad, made up of battle grenadiers and guard sailors, dressed in campaign uniform and grey capes. The many faces of fear are depicted on each of those who are to be shot. They come in waves from the city, in a line which sems to endlessly retreat from view, and the moment of their deaths, the unceremonious pile of corpses in the foreground.

The restoration carried out in 2008 has provided the painting with its the original brightness, so that Goya’s masterful and direct technique can be now fully appreciated.

Multimedia

Technical data

Imagen del carrusel
Imagen del carrusel
Inventory number
P000749
Author
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
Title
The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid, or “The Executions”
Date
1814
Technique
Oil
Support
Canvas
Dimension
Width: 347 cm; Height: 268 cm
Series
Escenas de la Guerra de la Independencia, El Dos de Mayo de 1808 en Madrid, 2
Provenance
Royal Palace, Madrid, 1814; entered the Prado Museum before 1834, registered in the ‘Large Deposit’ in that year; seen in 1840 by Théophile Gautier in the rooms of the Museum–described by the same author in 1843–; in 1850, by Count Clément de Ris; in 1867, it appears in the monograph on Goya by Charles Yriarte; it is finally registered in the catalogue of the Museum in 1872

Bibliography +

Gautier, Théophile, Voyage en Espagne, Charpentier, París:, 1845.

Matheron, L., Goya, Schultz et Thuillié, París:, 1858, pp. tableaux.

Caveda y Nava, José, Memorias para la historia de la Real Academia de San Fernando y de las Bellas Artes en España desde el advenimiento al trono de Felipe V hasta nuestros días, I, Imprenta de Manuel Tello, Madrid:, 1867, pp. 209-210, 214.

Yriarte, C., Goya. Sa biographie. Les fresques, les toiles, les tapisseries, les eaux-fortes et le catalogue de l'oeuvre, Henri Plon, París, 1867, pp. 86-88, 130.

Madrazo, Pedro, Catálogo descriptivo e histórico del Museo del Prado de Madrid, Madrid, 1872, pp. 408 n.735.

Viñaza, C. Muñoz y Manzano, Conde de, Goya. Su tiempo, su vida, sus obras, Tip. Manuel G. Hernández, Madrid, 1887, pp. 274-275, n. II.

Lefort, P., Le Musée du Prado. L'Ecole espagnole, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, XIII, 1895, pp. 136.

Araujo Sánchez, Ceferino, Goya, La España Moderna, Madrid, 1896, pp. 99, n. 83.

Laurent, J., Catalogue illustrée des tableaux du Musée du Prado à Madrid, J. Laurent et Cia, Madrid, 1899, pp. 9, n. 735.

Tormo y Monzó, Elías, Varios Estudios de Artes y Letras. Vol. I, I, Viuda e Hijos de M.Tello, Madrid:, 1902, pp. 217.

Lafond, P., Goya, Librairie de L`Art Ancien et Moderne, París, 1902, pp. 105, n. 3.

Loga, V. von, Francisco de Goya, G. Grote`sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlín, 1903, pp. 184, n. 67.

Calvert, A. F., Goya, John Lane, Londres; Nueva York, 1908, pp. 147, n. 2.

Beruete y Moret, Aureliano de, Goya. Composiciones y figuras, II, Blass y Cía, Madrid, 1917, pp. 110-118; 167, n. 192.

Loga, V. von, Francisco de Goya, G. Grote`sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlín, 1921, pp. 182, n. 67.

D'Ors, Eugenio, Tres horas en el Museo del Prado, Caro Raggio, Madrid:, 1922, pp. 84-92.

Mayer, A. L., Francisco de Goya, F. Bruckmann A. G., Munich, 1923, pp. 179, n. 74.

Gámir y Sandoval, A., Dónde estaba la casa de Goya en la Puerta del Sol, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones, XXXII, 1924, pp. 114-127.

Meier-Graefe, J., The Spanish Journey, Jonathan Cape Thirty Square, Londres:, 1926, pp. 313.

Kömstedt, R., Zu Goyas 'Exekution an den Strassen-Kämpfern vom 2. Mai 1808' im Prado-Museum, Pantheon, 12, Londres, 1941, pp. 283-284.

Lafuente Ferrari, Enrique, Goya. El dos de mayo y los fusilamientos, Juventud, Barcelona:, 1946.

Jeudwine, W. R., Goya and the Peninsular War, History Today, III/8, 1953, pp. 561-570.

Nordström, F., Goya, Saturn and Melancholy. Studies in the Art of Goya, Almqvist and Wiksell, Estocolmo:, 1962, pp. 172-184.

Gassier, Pierre y Wilson-Bareau, Juliet, Vie et oeuvre de Francisco de Goya: l' oeuvre complet illustré: peintures, dessins, gravures, Office du Livre, Fribourg, 1970, pp. 267, n. 984.

Gudiol, José, Goya, 1746-1828: Biografía, estudio analítico y catálogo de sus pinturas, i, Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1970, pp. 360, n. 624.

Thomas, H., Goya. The Third of May 1808, Allen Lane The Penguin Press, Londres:, 1972.

Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1972, pp. 265, n. 749.

Ferrarino, L., Goya: le fucilazioni del 3 maggio 1808, Studium, LXIX/2, 1973, pp. 1-11.

Gantner, J., Goya. Der Künstler Und Seine Welt, Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlín, 1974, pp. 180-185.

Hofmann, W., Das Irdische Paradies. Motive Und Ideen des 19. Jahrhunderts, Prestel, Munich:, 1974, pp. 114-116.

Angelis, Rita de, L`Opera Pittorica Completa Di Goya, Rizzoli, Milán, 1974, pp. 128, n. 566.

Angelis, Rita de, La obra pictórica completa de Goya, Noguer, Barcelona, 1975, pp. 128, n. 586.

Glendinning, Nigel, Imaginación de Goya: nuevas fuentes para algunos de sus dibujos y pinturas, Archivo Español de Arte, XLIX/195, 1976, pp. 286-290.

Glendinning, Nigel, Goya and his Critics, Yale University Press, New Haven And London:, 1977, pp. 11, 77, 118, 132-133, 141, 158, 183, 219, 224, 238.

Williams, Gwyn A., Goya y la revolución imposible, Icaria, Barcelona:, 1978, pp. 11-22.

Licht, Fred, Goya. The Origins of the Modern Temper in Art, John Murray Ltd., Londres, 1980, pp. 104-127.

Tüngel, R., Los fusilamientos del 3 de Mayo de Goya, Alianza, Madrid:, 1981.

Baticle, J., Lux et tenebris: Goya entre la legende et la verite, Colóquio, 48, Londres, 1981, pp. 50-59.

Camón Aznar, José, Francisco de Goya, IV, Caja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja, Zaragoza, 1982, pp. 22-26.

Bozal, Valeriano, Imagen de Goya, Lumen, Barcelona:, 1983, pp. 225-239.

Glendinning, Nigel, Goya y sus críticos, Taurus, Madrid, 1983, pp. 20, 91, 133, 147, 165, 197, 231, 236, 250, 251, 261.

Gudiol, José, Goya, 1746-1828: Biographie, Etude Analytique et Catalogue de ses Peintures, I, Ediciones PoligrafaS.A., Barcelona, 1984, pp. 117, n. 603.

Vilaplana Zurita, D. M., Un grabado valenciano como antecedente directo de «Los fusilamientos» de Goya, en VV. AA.: El arte barroco en Aragón, Huesca:, 1985, pp. 449-458.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1985, pp. 278-279, n. 749.

Vilaplana Zurita, D. M., Un grabado valenciano como fuente de El Tres de Mayo de 1808 de Goya, Boletín del Museo e Instituto Camón Aznar, XXIII, 1986, pp. 35-47.

Cóndor Orduña, M., El dos de mayo madrileño de 1808, en la pintura, Villa de Madrid, XXIV/88, 1986, pp. 41-42.

Moffitt, J. F., Francisco de Goya y Paul Revere: Una masacre en Madrid y una masacre en Boston. En: Goya: nuevas visiones: homenaje a Enrique Lafuente Ferrari, Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid:, 1987, pp. 257-290.

Pérez Sánchez, A. E., Goya en el Prado. Historia de una colección singular. En: Goya. nuevas visiones. Homenaje a Enrique Lafuente Ferrari, Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1987, pp. 308.

Hempel-Lipschutz, Ilse, Théophile Gautier y su "quimera retrospectiva" captada en la obra pictórica de Goya. En: Goya: nuevas visiones: homenaje a Enrique Lafuente Ferrari, Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1987, pp. 217-218.

Bialostocki, J., "The Firing Squad from Paul Revere to Goya: the Formation of a New Pictorial Theme in America, Russia and Spain", en Idem: The Message of Images. Studies in the History of Art, Irsa, Viena:, 1988, pp. 211-218.

Symmons, Sarah, Goya. In Pursuit of Patronage, Gordon Fraser, Londres:, 1988, pp. 88, 112, 119, 166-167.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: inventario general de pinturas, I, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990, pp. 493, n. 1.850.

Baticle, Jeannine, Les 2 et 3 Mai 1808 à Madrid: recherches sur les épisodes choisis par Goya, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, CXVI, 1990, pp. 185-200.

Serrano, P., El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid: los fusilamientos en la montaña del Príncipe Pío. En: Mirar un cuadro en el Museo del Prado, Lundwerg, Madrid:, 1991, pp. 218-221.

Andioc, R., "El Dos de mayo de Martí", en Caldera, E. (ed.): Teatro político spagnolo del primo ottocento, Bulzoni, Roma:, 1991, pp. 125-151.

Tomlinson, Janis, Goya in the Twilight of Enlightenment, Yale University Press, New Haven & Londres, 1992, pp. 131-149.

Baticle, J., Goya, Fayard, París, 1992, pp. 399-403.

Andioc, R., En torno a los cuadros del Dos de Mayo, Boletín del Museo e Instituto 'Camón Aznar', LI, Madrid, 1993, pp. 133-166.

Tomlinson, J. A., Goya en el crepúsculo de las Luces, Cátedra, Madrid, 1993, pp. 172-194.

Morales y Marín, José Luis, Goya. Catalogo de la Pintura, Academia de Bellas Artes de San Luis, Zaragoza, 1994, pp. 327, n. 453.

Bozal, Valeriano, Goya y el gusto moderno, Alianza Editorial, Madrid:, 1994, pp. 164-170; 179-195.

Baticle, J., Goya, Grijalbo Mondadori, Barcelona:, 1995, pp. 271-274.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: catálogo de las pinturas, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid, 1996, pp. 141, n. 749.

Luna, J. J., Moreno de las Heras, M. (dir.), Goya: 250 Aniversario, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1996, pp. 411-412, n. 142.

Muñoz Molina, A., "Los fusilamientos de la Moncloa", en VV. AA.: Obras maestras del Museo del Prado, Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid:, 1996, pp. 203-211.

Moreno de las Heras, Margarita, Goya: pinturas del Museo del Prado, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1997, pp. 280-286, n. 101.

Andioc, R., Algo más (¿o menos?) sobre el Tres de mayo de Goya, Goya, 265-266, 1998, pp. 194-203.

Portela Sandoval, F. J., Una posible fuente inspiradora de Los fusilamientos de Goya, Anales de la Historia del Arte, 1999, pp. 245-253.

Glendinning, Nigel, "Representaciones de la Guerra de la Independencia: «El dos de mayo» y «Los fusilamientos»", en VV. AA.: Goya, Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado; Galaxia Gutenberg, Madrid, 2002, pp. 271-284.

Nieto Alcaide, Víctor, 'La guerra y lo imaginario en la pintura de Goya', En: Historias inmortales, Barcelona, 2002, pp. 319-329.

Neuschäfer, H. J., "Goya und die Tragödie der spanischen Aufklärung. Die Bilder zum 2. und 3. Mai 1808", en Frank, C. y Hänsel, S. (ed.): Spanien und Portugal im Zeitalter der Aufklärung, Iberoamericana/Vervuert, Frankfurt Am Main, 2002, pp. 451-458.

Mena Marqués, Manuela B. (dir.), Manet en el Prado, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid:, 2003, pp. 266-271.

Reuter, A., Das Bild Der Gewalt Im Werk Goyas, Peter Lang GMBH, Frankfurt Am Main:, 2004, pp. 147-186.

Alía Plana, J. M., Dos días de mayo de 1808 en Madrid pintados por Goya, Fundación Jorge Juan, Madrid:, 2004.

Bozal, Valeriano, Francisco Goya. Vida y obra, II, TF Editores, Madrid:, 2005, pp. 75-89.

Calvo Serraller, F. y Giménez, C. (dir.), Picasso. Tradición y vanguardia, Museo Nacional del Prado; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid:, 2006, pp. 70, 287.

Matilla, José Manuel, Estampas españolas de la Guerra de la Independencia: propaganda, conmemoración y testimonio, Cuadernos dieciochistas, n.8, 2007, pp. 262.

Földényi, L., Goya y el abismo del alma, Galaxia Gutenberg; Círculo de Lectores, Barcelona:, 2008, pp. 172-174.

Andioc, R., Algo más (o ¿menos?) sobre el Tres de Mayo de Goya en Goya, letra y figuras, Casa de Velázquez, Madrid, 2008, pp. 39-61.

Andioc, R., En torno a los cuadros del Dos y Tres de Mayo en Goya, letra y figuras, Casa de Velázquez, Madrid, 2008, pp. 3-37.

Mena Marqués, M. B. y Maurer, G., "El tres de mayo de 1808", en Mena Marqués, M. B.; Maurer, G. y otros: Goya en tiempos de guerra, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid:, 2008, pp. 353-369, n. 124.

Calvo Serraller, Francisco, "Picasso et l'école espagnole", en Baldassari, A. y Bernadac, M. L. (dir.): Picasso et les maîtres, Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, París:, 2008, pp. 66.

Luna, Juan J., Guerra y pintura en las colecciones del Museo del Prado. Desde el siglo XVI a Goya, en Cabañas Bravo, M.; López-Yarto Elizalde, A. y Rincón García, W. (coords.): Arte en tiempos de guerra, Jornadas de Arte (14ª. 2008. Madrid), Madrid:, 2009, pp. 25.

Mena Marqués, M. B.; Maurer, G.; Garrido, C. y otros, Goya: El Dos y el Tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid. Estudio y restauración, Boletín del Museo del Prado, XXVII/45, 2009, pp. 129-149.

Rodríguez G. de Ceballos, A., Representación de la guerra en la pintura española: de la épica heroica al desastre moral, en Cabañas Bravo, M.; López-Yarto Elizalde, A. y Rincón García, W. (coords.): Arte en tiempos de guerra, Jornadas de Arte (14ª. 2008. Madrid), Madrid:, 2009, pp. 136-140.

Calvo Serraller, Francisco, Goya. Obra pictórica, Ramdon House Mondadori, Barcelona, 2009, pp. 234.

Tomlinson, Janis, Passion Unbound: Reaframing Goya's Desatres de la Guerra. En: Goya's War: Los Desastres de la Guerra, Trustees of Pomona College, Claremont, California, 2013, pp. 13-14.

Junquera y Mato, J. J., Goya frente a la Guerra de la Independencia. Un dudoso patriotismo, unos cuadros sospechosos y un pintor nuevo, Edición Personal, Madrid, 2013, pp. 17.

Alba Pagán, E., La actitud política de los pintores españoles durante la Guerra de la Independencia (1808-1814). En: El arte español entre Roma y París (1700-1900): intercambios artísticos y circulación de modelos, Casa de Velázquez, Madrid, 2014, pp. 429.

Wilson-Bareau, Juliet, 'Manet y España' En: Del realismo al impresionismo, Fundación Amigos Museo del Prado - Galaxia Gutenberg, Madrid, 2014, pp. 57-79 [59, 79].

Busch, W., Das Pathos der Sinnlosigkeit. Moderne Geschichtserfahrung in Francisco Goyas "Erschiesung der Aufständischen". En: Bilder machen Geschichte, De Gruyter, Berlín, 2014, pp. 221-233.

Stepanek, L. Ilchman, F., 'Goya between order and disorder' En:, Goya: Order & Disorder, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2014, pp. 10-31 [26,29 n.7].

Todorov, Tzvetan, La pintura de la Ilustración: de Watteau a Goya, Galaxia Gutenberg: Círculo de Lectores,, Barcelona, 2014, pp. 178.

Bray, X., 'Liberals and despots (1808-1815)' En:, Goya.The Portraits, National Gallery Company, Londres, 2015, pp. 159-181 [189].

Bozal, V., 'El Sueño de la Razón produce monstruos' En: Historia de la belleza, de Fidias a Picasso, Círculo de Lectores - Fundación Amigos Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2015, pp. 187-208 [204].

Jacobs, Helmut C., Nacionalismos en la pintura de Francisco de Goya, Acta artis, 4 / 5, 2016-2017, pp. 55-75 [56,66-75 f.7].

Lee, S., King Ferdinand´s Veto en S. Padiyar, P. Shaw, P. Simpson (ed.), Visual culture and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Routledge, Londres & Nueva York, 2016, pp. 120-136.

Busch, Werner, Goya, Verlag C.H.Beck, Múnich, 2018, pp. 81-100.

Foecking, Marc, Pierrot und Pulcinella in der Malerei des 18. Jahrhunderts, Pisot, Sandra (ed.), Goya, Fragonard, Tiepolo: Die Freiheit der Malerei, Hamburger Kunsthalle; Hirmer, Hamburgo; Múnich, 2019, pp. 143.

Other inventories +

Museo Real de Pinturas a la muerte de Fernando VII, 1834. Núm. 176.
DEPÓSITO GRANDE ESCUELA ESPAÑOLA / Ciento setenta y seis. LAs Víctimas de la noche del día 2 de Mayo de 1808 / D. Francisco Goya / Lº / 8.900

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 1850.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 735.

Catálogo Goya, Pierre Gassier y Juliet Wilson. Núm. 984.

Exhibitions +

Reunited
Madrid
06.06.2020 - 25.07.2021

Goya in Times of War
Madrid
15.04.2008 - 13.07.2008

Picasso. Tradición y vanguardia
Madrid
05.06.2006 - 25.09.2006

Manet en el Prado
Madrid
14.10.2003 - 11.01.2004

Location +

Room 064 (On Display)

Expuesto

Displayed objects +

Lighting accesories: Farol cuadrangular

Update date: 05-03-2026 | Registry created on 28-04-2015

Visor 360

Drag with the cursor to rotate the piece

Other works by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

Print on demand

Print artworks available in our catalogue in high quality and your preferred size and finish.

Image archive

Request artworks available in our catalogue in digital format.

Up