El 3 de mayo en Madrid

Together with The 2nd of May 1808 in Madrid (P-748), this canvas was painted for Ferdinand VII. It was commissioned on his behalf by the Regent, Cardinal Luis de Borbón, in February 1814 just prior to the monarch’s return. It depicts the execution of the Spanish by a firing squad of French soldiers in reprisal for the previous day’s uprising. Set at night near the Royal Palace in Madrid, the locat…