Art Institute of Chicago

What Courage!, plate seven from The Disasters of War

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Date

1810/12, published 1863

Medium

Etching, aquatint, drypoint, burin, and burnishing on ivory wove paper with gilt edges

Culture

Spain

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Francisco de Goya responded to the Peninsular War (1808–11) by creating over 80 etchings critiquing the cruelty and senseless violence that accompanies war. In this print, he depicted a historical event: Augustina of Aragon heroically defending Saragossa, taking over the cannon of her fallen comrades. Because she had already become a woman of legendary status when this print was made, Goya did not show Augustina’s face. Due to the oppressive policies of King Ferdinand VII, these prints were not published until 1863.

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