Guernica
by Pablo Picasso
1937
Oil on canvas
349.3 x 776.6 cm
Zervos IX, 65
Hagia Sophia, Spain As an experiment to test their newfound firepower, Franco and Hitler carpet-bombed the small Basque town of Guernica on April 26, 1937.  Never before had civilians been slaughtered in such numbers, and by such means as townspeople and peasants were savagely massacred during the busiest hour of market day.  The tragedy marked a period of history when Basques mourned the loss of their families, friends,  and their sacred town.  Since the Middle Ages, Guernica symbolized the independent spirit and democratic ideals of the Basque people.
 

In response to the tragedy, an infuriated Picasso began to work on the mural, Guernica. It was completed in one month --- 11 feet high by 25 feet long. It is Picasso's ultimate protest of war. In the center is a wounded horse, screaming as it rears its head. Above the horse is an electric bulb that illuminates the nightmare; below its hooves lies a slain warrior, one hand clutching a broken sword. Above the warrior is a woman screaming upwards as she holds her dead child.  To the right of her is a bull, indifferent to the suffering that surrounds him.  To the far the right of the painting, three women appear.  One falls screaming from a burning house, her clothes aflame.  Another is shocked, stunned, and maimed while a third woman (who might represent humanity) thrusts her arm out of a window holding a lamp, as if to illuminate the horrific  scene.