plate no. 7710

The Third of May 1808

oilRomanticismgenre paintingfiguressoldiersbuildingsnight scenedramaviolence

what to study here

It shows how a few value zones, selective hard edges, and uneven finish can direct attention to one figure in an otherwise dark scene.

Study how the value structure is organized before any detail is considered. The vision read shows three zones on squint: near-black night and soldiers, a warm tan-ochre ground plane, and the lit figures. The lantern sits low, so the ground glows and the victims are modeled in high relief against the dark. The white shirt is the lightest note, but it carries warm reflected light, so it reads as lit by the lantern rather than as pure white. Look at the edges next. They are hard where light meets dark, at the victim's outline and the soldiers' shoulder line, and soft and lost in the shadowed areas, where the figures dissolve into mist. The soldiers are broad, loose strokes read as one silhouette, while the central victim gets the most deliberate modeling in the torso and raised arms. The ground is worked directionally, following its recession. A good exercise is to paint a small value study using only these three zones, then decide which two or three edges you will sharpen and which you will let disappear.

key decision

The painter limited the picture to near-black, a warm mid-tone ground, and a bright lit figure, and kept the sharpest edges and most careful modeling for the central victim. The soldiers are massed as one dark silhouette.

From the record

Dimensions: 268 cm high × 347 cm wide
Institution: Museo del Prado, Royal Palace of Madrid
Location: Museo del Prado
Inception: 1814
Materials: oil paint, canvas
Movement: Romanticism

execution by firing squad
Dos de Mayo Uprising
rifle
Death
oil lamp
soldier
rebel

Wikipedia article Wikidata item Q1091086

from the sources

Goya completed The Third of May 1808 in 1814. en.wikipedia.org
“is a painting completed in 1814 by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya.”
The painting was commissioned by Spain's provisional government at Goya's own suggestion, together with a companion piece of the same size. en.wikipedia.org
“it was commissioned by the provisional government of Spain at Goya's own suggestion shortly after the ousting of the French occupation and the restoration of King Ferdinand VII.”
The painting is held in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. en.wikipedia.org
“The painting currently resides in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.”
Goya made the work to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of Madrid in 1808. en.wikipedia.org
“In the work, Goya sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of Madrid in 1808 at the start of the Peninsular War.”
The painting depicts the French reprisals that followed the May 2 uprising, when hundreds of Spaniards were shot. en.wikipedia.org
“Much the better known of the pair, The Third of May illustrates the French reprisals: before dawn the next day hundreds of Spaniards were rounded up and shot, at a number of locations around Madrid.”
The composition centers on a firing squad facing a disorganized group of captives, with a lantern on the ground lighting the scene. en.wikipedia.org
“A square lantern situated on the ground between the two groups throws a dramatic light on the scene.”
Early critics reacted to the painting in mixed ways, and some judged it technically flawed. en.wikipedia.org
“At first the painting met with mixed reactions from art critics and historians.”
Kenneth Clark called the painting the first great picture that could be called revolutionary in style, subject and intention. en.wikipedia.org
“According to the art historian Kenneth Clark, it is "the first great picture which can be called revolutionary in every sense of the word, in style, in subject, and in intention".”

recreation guide

Francisco Goya’s *The Third of May 1808* (1814) is a seminal work of Romanticism that departs from traditional martyrdom iconography while retaining its structural DNA. The painting is structurally tied to Christian traditions of martyrdom, utilizing dramatic chiaroscuro to juxtapose the appeal to life with the inevitability of execution (Source 1). Unlike the harmonious compositions of earlier violence depictions by artists like Jusepe de Ribera, Goya’s work is characterized by a raw, unflinching realism that serves as a visual protest against the violence of the Peninsular War (Source 8). The central figure, posed with raised arms, evokes the crucified Christ or the Agony in the Garden, wearing yellow and white—the heraldic colors of the papacy—and displaying stigmata-like marks, while a lantern references the arrest of Christ (Source 1). As a genre painting in the broad sense of depicting human drama, it avoids the sentimental anecdotal nature often associated with the genre, instead presenting a stark, emotional expression of conscience in the face of death (Source 3, Source 8).

estimated time

40-60 hours over 8-12 sessions

materials

5 items

steps

6 in sequence

materials

item	purpose	modern equivalent
Oil paints (Lead White, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Ultramarine, Vermilion, Lamp Black)	Primary medium for the final layers and glazes.	High-quality artist-grade oil paints; avoid student-grade for the necessary transparency in glazing.
Linseed oil or Oil of Copavia	Medium for mixing paints and creating glazes, as historically used by Goya and contemporaries.	Stand oil or refined linseed oil; Oil of Copavia is a historical resinous oil mentioned by Reynolds but less common today.
Canvas (Linen)	Support for the oil painting.	Primed linen canvas.
Charcoal or Black Chalk	Underdrawing and initial tonal blocking.	Vine charcoal or compressed charcoal.
Varnish	For mixing with oil in later glazing stages to increase transparency and depth.	Dammar varnish or modern painting varnish.

preparation

surface prep

Prepare a linen canvas with a traditional oil ground. Goya’s practice, consistent with the late 18th/early 19th century, likely involved a white or light-toned ground to facilitate the handling of light and shadow. The surface should be smooth enough to allow for the fine detail in the faces but textured enough to hold the impasto in the darker areas. Ensure the ground is fully dry before beginning.

underdrawing

Goya’s preparatory methods for this specific work are not explicitly detailed in the provided sources. However, given the dramatic composition and the need for precise placement of the central martyr figure and the firing squad, a loose but accurate underdrawing in charcoal is recommended. Focus on the structural alignment of the lantern light source and the geometric arrangement of the soldiers versus the organic forms of the victims.

underpainting

Employ a grisaille (monochrome underpainting) technique. As noted in historical practice, one should mentally extract red and yellow colors to establish the tonal values first (Source 6). This allows for the dramatic chiaroscuro essential to the painting’s mood. The underpainting should establish the deep shadows of the night setting and the bright highlights of the lantern and the central figure’s shirt.

color palette

Bright Yellow

Lead Yellow or Yellow Ochre mixed with White

The central figure’s shirt, referencing the heraldic colors of the papacy and drawing the eye to the focal point (Source 1).

White

Lead White

The central figure’s shirt and highlights on the faces, creating stark contrast against the dark background (Source 1).

Deep Browns/Blacks

Lamp Black, Burnt Umber, and Ultramarine

The uniforms of the firing squad and the night sky, creating the dramatic chiaroscuro (Source 1).

Warm Earth Tones

Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Vermilion

The skin tones of the victims and the lantern light, applied via glazing to achieve warmth and depth (Source 6).

composition

The composition is centered on a lantern that acts as a natural spotlight, referencing the lantern held by Roman soldiers during Christ’s arrest (Source 1). The central figure is posed with arms raised in a crucifixion-like stance, creating a vertical focal point against the horizontal line of the firing squad (Source 1). The painting departs from the harmonious composition of earlier martyrdom scenes, opting for a more chaotic and emotionally charged arrangement that emphasizes the immediacy of the execution (Source 1). The use of chiaroscuro is dramatic, highlighting the victims while leaving the soldiers in relative shadow, emphasizing the anonymity of the executioners versus the individuality of the victim (Source 1).

step by step

underdrawing→underpainting→first pass→refining→finishing→varnishing

underdrawing

step 01
Sketch the basic forms of the figures, focusing on the central martyr’s pose and the line of the firing squad. Establish the position of the lantern as the primary light source.
Tip — Ensure the perspective of the ground and the figures aligns to create depth.
Charcoal sketching

underpainting

step 02
Apply a grisaille underpainting using black, white, and perhaps a touch of ultramarine to establish the tonal values. Focus on the contrast between the bright lantern light and the dark surroundings.
Tip — Mentally extract red and yellow colors to focus purely on light and shadow relationships (Source 6).
Grisaille

first pass

step 03
Begin applying local colors in opaque layers, particularly for the central figure’s yellow and white shirt. Use thicker paint for highlights.
Tip — Keep the colors relatively flat at this stage to allow for glazing later.
Impasto

refining

step 04
Apply glazes of warm colors (reds, yellows) over the dried underpainting and opaque layers to enrich the skin tones and the lantern light. Use scumbling for cooler, semi-opaque effects in the shadows.
Tip — Glazing involves a transparent coat of color, while scumbling is semi-opaque, allowing the underlying painting to show through (Source 6).
Glazing and Scumbling

finishing

step 05
Refine the details of the faces, particularly the expression of the central figure, to convey the emotional intensity and the 'appeal to life' juxtaposed with imminent death.
Tip — Avoid overworking the paint; maintain the vitality of the medium (Source 2).
Detail work

varnishing

step 06
Apply a final varnish to unify the surface and enhance the depth of the glazes.
Tip — Ensure the painting is completely dry before varnishing.
Varnishing

critical techniques

Chiaroscuro

Used dramatically to highlight the central figure and create a sense of immediacy and emotional intensity, departing from the harmonious compositions of earlier martyrdom scenes (Source 1).

Glazing

A transparent coat of color applied over a dry underpainting to enrich tones and create depth, a method practiced by old masters and recommended for oil painting (Source 6).

Scumbling

A semi-opaque painting technique used over darker grounds to create coldness or grey blooms, allowing the underlying painting to show through (Source 6).

common pitfalls

→Attempting to deceive the eye with excessive naturalism rather than expressing the emotional idea through painted symbols (Source 2).
→Losing the vitality of the medium by overworking the paint or ignoring the specific qualities of oil paint (Source 2).
→Failing to establish strong tonal contrasts in the underpainting, which weakens the dramatic chiaroscuro essential to the composition (Source 1, Source 6).
→Using colors that are true to nature but not harmonious, resulting in an unpleasing effect (Source 5).

what the sources don't tell us

Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.

·Specific details of Goya’s brushwork and layering sequence for *The Third of May 1808* are not provided in the sources.
·The exact pigments used by Goya for this specific painting are not listed, though general period practices are inferred.
·The specific preparatory sketches or cartoons for this work are not described.
·The exact dimensions and canvas preparation method for this specific work are not detailed.

grounded in

The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.

The Practice and Science of Drawing↗
- XX MATERIALS — applied to Philosophy of oil painting, avoiding mere deception, and respecting the medium’s vitality (Source 2).
Laws of Contrast of Colour↗
- 306-308 — applied to Color harmony and the difference between true and agreeable coloring (Source 5).
The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- COLOURING A MONOCHROME — applied to Grisaille, glazing, and scumbling techniques (Source 6).

cross-referenced from

Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.

Wikipedia: The Third of May 1808↗
- part 6 — applied to Composition, themes, chiaroscuro, and iconographic references (Source 1).
Wikipedia: Genre painting↗
- part 4 — applied to Context of genre painting and its evolution (Source 3).
Wikipedia bio — Francisco Goya↗
- part 8 — applied to Historical context, Peninsular War, and the painting’s role as a visual protest (Source 8).

Read more about the corpus on the sources page and how the guides are built on the methods page.

read from the painting

observed from the image, not the label

6 dominant colors, measured

what the eye sees

A nighttime execution unfolds on a barren hilltop where a strong light source (a lantern) floods the ground and central victim with warm yellow-tan illumination, creating brutal chiaroscuro against nearly black surroundings. Your eye is drawn immediately to the white-shirted figure with raised arms at center-left, who stands before a firing squad of darkly silhouetted French soldiers on the right. The remaining victims lie dead or wait execution in the shadowed foreground, while Madrid's castle forms a faint silhouette against the black sky. The light source is low, casting the victims' forms in high relief against the void.

value structure

This painting operates on an extreme tonal gamut: nearly pure black sky and soldier forms occupy the upper and right sides, while the illuminated ground is a rich warm mid-tone (tan-ochre). The central victim's white shirt is the lightest point, but it glows with warm reflected light rather than appearing pure white. Value transitions are sharp where the lantern's beam meets shadow (the soldiers' shoulders, the ground edge), but soften in the atmospheric mist that shrouds figures in shadow. Squinting reveals essentially three value zones: the black night (background and soldiers), the warm illuminated ground plane, and the brightly lit figures.

observed palette and mixes

#191816
Ivory black with burnt umber for richness
The night sky and the soldiers' darkest forms
#3c3326
Burnt umber with raw umber
The shadowed figures waiting execution, the ground's shadow edges
#765d3f
Raw umber with yellow ochre
The mid-tone flesh and clothing in shadow
#a5885d
Yellow ochre with titanium white and burnt umber
The illuminated ground plane and the warm reflected light on the central victim's white shirt
#f5f5f0
Titanium white with trace yellow ochre and cadmium red
The central victim's white shirt and the most brightly lit areas
#56412b
Burnt umber with ivory black
The soldiers' uniforms and the cooler shadows

edges and brushwork

Goya uses soft, lost edges throughout the shadowed regions—the mist and darkness blur forms so you cannot read specific figures clearly except where the lantern's light catches them. Where light meets dark (the victim's silhouette, the soldiers' shoulder line), edges become harder and more defined. Brushwork is economical: the soldiers are suggested with broad, loose strokes that prioritize the effect of their collective silhouette over individual detail, while the central victim receives more deliberate modeling in the torso and raised arms. The ground is worked directionally, following the plane's recession.

a working sequence

01
Tonal Foundation
Establish the full value range immediately with a thin wash. Block the night sky and surrounding dark areas in near-black (burnt umber and ivory black). Cover the illuminated ground plane and the area around the lantern in warm mid-tone tan-ochre. Keep it loose; this is your lighting map. The dark areas should feel suffocating; the light area should glow warmly.
02
Light Source and Ground Plane
Strengthen the warm glow on the ground plane—this is the lantern's direct illumination. Use yellow ochre warmed with a touch of cadmium red. Work outward from the lantern's location (center-bottom of the composition) so the warmth gradually cools and darkens into shadow at the edges. The ground should feel like it's being lit from below by a single point source.
03
Compositional Masses
Block in the three major forms: the firing squad as a dark, cohesive mass on the right; the group of victims (standing and fallen) on the left and center; the silhouetted castle and buildings against the dark sky in the background. Use large brushstrokes and don't get caught in detail yet. These masses should read clearly even from across the room.
04
The Central Victim
Paint the white-shirted figure with titanium white mixed with just enough yellow ochre and cadmium red to show warm reflected light from the lantern—this is not pure white. Model the visible anatomy (torso, arms, neck) with care; this figure must read as human and vulnerable. The arms should show anatomical conviction even in their raised, desperate gesture. This is where your most careful brushwork goes.
05
The Fallen Victims
Paint the prone figures in the foreground using warm shadows (burnt umber and raw umber) where the lantern light touches them, and near-black where they recede into shadow. One figure should show visible wounds in cadmium red. Keep these forms somewhat indistinct—the viewer's attention must remain on the standing victim. Suggest rather than describe the anatomy of the dead.
06
The Firing Squad
Render the soldiers as a silhouetted, faceless collective using dark gray and black. Their muskets should be clearly defined as sharp horizontal lines pointing at the central victim, but their faces, hands, and individual features must remain obscured or completely lost in shadow. They are a machine, not individuals—never show their eyes or expressions. This anonymity is the painting's moral center.
07
Atmosphere and Distance
Work the remaining standing victims in the middle distance—those waiting execution. Keep them in murky half-light between the illuminated ground and the black night. Use dull browns (raw umber, burnt umber) and muted ochres; they should feel indistinct and trapped. Let some dissolve completely into the darkness to emphasize the hopelessness of the scene.
08
Background and Refinement
Suggest the castle and distant buildings with the absolute minimum—just enough to read as a fortress silhouette against the black sky. Use very dark browns with barely more light than the sky itself. Refine edges selectively: sharpen where light and dark meet dramatically (the victim's outline), soften elsewhere to create atmospheric haze. Add final touches of warmer highlights where the lantern's glow catches fabric or flesh.

where studies of this painting go wrong

Starting with mid-tone values and never achieving the extreme dark-to-light range that makes this painting work—commit to very dark surroundings and very bright illumination from the start.
Making the soldiers' faces or hands visible, which destroys the painting's emotional impact; they must remain faceless machinery.
Rendering the central victim's white shirt as pure white without warm reflected light, which reads as artificial rather than illuminated; warm up that white with yellow ochre and cadmium red where the lantern hits it.
Over-rendering the background buildings and sky, which pulls the eye away from the drama; the castle should be barely more than a dark silhouette.
Losing the directional ground plane by not following the light's projection; the illuminated earth should recede logically from the lantern as a solid mass.

measured difficulty