Plate 61 from ‘The Disasters of War’ (Los Desastres de la Guerra): ‘Perhaps they are of another breed.’ (Si son de otro linage.)

Description

Francisco Goya’s Perhaps They Are of Another Breed sets well-dressed observers beside the starving. A pale, emaciated figure stretches out both arms in appeal, surrounded by people who are dying or already dead. The neighboring group’s composed appearance contrasts with these strained bodies and desperate gestures. Clear light exposes the difference without allowing the more comfortable figures to disappear into shadow.

Plate 61 of The Disasters of War turns social inequality into a question about shared humanity. The title’s suggestion of different lineage is bitterly ironic: the starving and the prosperous occupy the same ground, yet are treated as though they belong to separate worlds. Goya makes indifference visible through posture and expression. The print’s accusation depends on that closeness, showing how refusal to help can persist even when suffering is unmistakably present.

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