Plate 19 from ‘The Disasters of War’ (Los Desastres de la Guerra): ‘There isn’t time now.’ (Ya no hay tiempo.)

Description

Francisco Goya’s There Is Not Time Now captures a violent encounter at the instant it may be interrupted. Soldiers surround a group of civilians; a woman reaches toward an aggressor while another clasps her hands in appeal. The compressed bodies and opposing gestures make the situation difficult to resolve at a glance. Resistance, pleading and threatened violence occupy the same shallow space.

Plate 19 of The Disasters of War shows civilians facing the force of armed men rather than the spectacle of a conventional battle. The title introduces an abrupt limit to the action, without offering a reassuring account of what follows. Created during the Peninsular War, the print concentrates on the precarious position of women caught in conflict. Goya gives their gestures urgency and individuality, keeping the human encounter at the center of the image.

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