Goya’s painting depicts the disturbances that took place in Madrid on 2 May 1808, when several groups of Madrilenians gathered at the Royal Palace in the early hours of the morning. They were aware that the French intended to remove the prince Francisco de Paula from the palace to France along with the rest of the royal family. After José Blas Molina shouted “Let them take him away!”, some of the people of Madrid stormed the palace gates. Believing that the French were taking the prince by force, they attacked a French patrol and unleashed violence in the streets of Madrid, which was accompanied by a desire for revenge and to get rid of the French. Thus, a great spontaneous popular uprising began, with a stockpiling of weapons in which knives were the main weapon of choice. The people of Madrid did not manage to control access to the city gates to prevent French reinforcements from entering the city, which led to a bloody day in which lancers and Mamluks launched a bloody attack on the population.
Collection: Images
Project: 6. Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe.
Chronology: XIX
Scope: Secondary education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Image
Format: Oil on canvas (268,5 x 347,5 cm)
Source: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Language: Spanish
Date: 1814
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Identifier: P000748
Copyright: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Abstract: The Madrid uprising in the face of the French invasion in the early 19th century
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