‘God save us from such a bitter fate’; a bandit threatening a woman and a child with a knife: page 41 from the Black Border Album (E)

Description

A bandit with a knife threatens a woman and child in God Save Us from Such a Bitter Fate. The raised danger gathers the figures into an unequal encounter, where one person’s weapon sets the terms for those unable to resist on the same footing. Goya makes fear immediate through the closeness of the threatened bodies.

The drawing from the Black Border Album uses black and gray washes with altered passages to give the scene a concentrated tonal presence. The title turns the particular encounter into an appeal, expressing the desire to be spared a fate already visible before the viewer. Its force comes from the meeting of that protective wish and the practical means of harm, leaving the human need for safety painfully unresolved.

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