Napoleon I of France declared himself First Consul of the French Republic on 18 February 1799, and was crowned Emperor in 1804. Because Spain controlled access to the Mediterranean, it was politically and strategically important to the French. The reigning Spanish sovereign, Charles IV, was internationally regarded as ineffectual,[10] and his position at the time was threatened by his pro-British heir, Crown Prince Ferdinand. Napoleon took advantage of Charles's weak standing by suggesting the two nations conquer Portugal—the spoils to be divided equally between France, Spain and the Spanish Prime Minister, Manuel de Godoy, who would take the title "Prince of the Algarve". Seduced by the French offer, Godoy accepted, failing to detect the true motivations of either Napoleon or Ferdinand, who both intended to use the invasion as a ploy, to seize power in Spain.[10]
A scene of an execution at night with a city in the background. On the left is a group of civilians in varying states of despair. The focal point is a man whose white shirt is lit by a lantern. He throws his arms in the air and glares at the firing squad. Corpses lie on the bloodstained ground. On the right a row of soldiers, seen from the back, take aim.
In The Third of May 1808, along with its companion work The Second of May 1808, Goya sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of 1808.[11] Both were produced in 1814, while the print series was in progress.
Under the guise of reinforcing the Spanish armies, 23,000 French troops entered Spain unopposed in November 1807.[12] Even when their intentions became clear the following February, the occupying forces faced little resistance besides isolated actions in disconnected areas.[10] In 1808, a popular uprising—incited by Ferdinand's supporters—saw Godoy captured and left Charles with no choice but to abdicate; he did so on 19 March 1808, allowing his son to ascend the throne as Ferdinand VII. Ferdinand had been seeking French patronage,[13] but Napoleon and his principal commander, Marshal Joachim Murat, believed that Spain would benefit from rulers who were more progressive
During the conflicts between Napoleon's French Empire and Spain, Goya retained his position as first court painter to the Spanish crown and continued to produce portraits of the Spanish and French rulers.[3] Although deeply affected by the war, he kept private his thoughts on the art he produced in response to the conflict and its aftermath.[4] He was in poor health and almost deaf when, at 62, he began work on the prints. They were not published until 1863, 35 years after his death. It is likely that only then was it considered politically safe to distribute a sequence of artworks criticising both the French and restored Bourbons.
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