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Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

And they are like wild beasts, plate five from The Disasters of War

1812/15, published 1863
Etching, burnished aquatint, and drypoint on ivory wove paper with gilt edges
13.4 × 18.3 cm (5.3 × 7.2 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Even mothers are driven to violence, as this image depicts. A woman holds a child on her left hip, even as she thrusts a spear into a French soldier with her right arm. In the background, other women assault the enemy by various means or languish from their wounds. The striking juxtaposition of the maternal with violent aggression serves to communicate the desperate conditions of the Peninsular War.

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