The Second of May 1808
The Second of May 1808, by Goya, also known as The Charge of the Mamelukes (Spanish: El 2 de mayo de 1808 en Madrid, La lucha con los mamelucos or La carga de los mamelucos),[1] is a painting by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya. It is a companion to the painting The Third of May 1808 and is set in the Calle de Alcalá near Puerta del Sol, Madrid, during the Dos de Mayo Uprising. It depicts one of the many people's rebellions against the French occupation of Spain that sparked the Peninsular War.
The Second of May 1808 (The Charge of the Mamelukes)
Both paintings were completed within a two-month period in 1814. Today they are displayed in Madrid's Museo del Prado.
Goya witnessed first-hand the French occupation of Spain in 1808, when Napoleon used the pretext of reinforcing his army in Portugal to seize the Spanish throne, leaving his brother Joseph in power. Attempts to remove members of the Spanish royal family from Madrid provoked a widespread rebellion. This popular uprising occurred between the second and third of May 1808, when suppressed by forces under Maréchal Joachim Murat.
Damage[edit]
In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, when Madrid was bombed by Nationalist troops, the republican government decided to evacuate the paintings from the Prado. A truck carrying Goya's paintings had an accident, and The Second of May was badly damaged: there were tears and even pieces missing. A first restoration was carried out in 1941 when the paintings returned to Madrid. A further restoration was completed between 2007 and 2008.
