Plate 70 from ‘The Disasters of War’ (Los Desastres de la Guerra): ‘They do not know the way.’ (No saben el camino.)

Description

Francisco Goya’s They Do Not Know the Way shows a line of people linked by a rope, approaching across barren ground. Their clothing suggests different social positions, but all share the same constrained movement and downcast attention. The leader’s blindness makes the procession’s direction uncertain. The curved line stretches back into the distance, giving the group the look of a whole community caught in one condition.

Plate 70 of The Disasters of War adapts the familiar idea of the blind leading the blind into a troubling image of collective dependence. Goya does not offer an escape route or a reassuring guide. The rope binds the figures physically while also suggesting their shared predicament. Its title questions leadership as much as knowledge, allowing this spare procession to speak about a society moving forward without the understanding needed to choose its course.

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