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GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de: The Captivity is as Barbarous as the Crime

🖼 The Captivity is as Barbarous as the Crime, 1810s
Etching and burin
110 × 85 cm
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rendered in stark contrasts, a bound prisoner slumps against stone while shadowed figures loom above, depicting brutal confinement. Goya condemns both crime and its punishment, challenging Enlightenment justice through visceral humanity and moral ambiguity.

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