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GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de: May the rope break

🖼 May the rope break, 1815-20
Etching and aquatint
175 × 220 cm
Madrid, Spain

Suspended figures dangle from fraying rope in dark, expressionistic strokes—a scene of grotesque violence rendered with psychological intensity. Goya's nightmarish vision critiques execution and human cruelty, exemplifying his Black Paintings' raw emotional power and modernist approach to depicting suffering.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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