The Second of May 1808
1814 · Oil on canvas · Museo del Prado, Madrid
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About this work
- Artist
- Francisco Goya (1746–1828)
- Year
- 1814
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 268.5 × 347.5 cm
- Collection
- Museo del Prado, Madrid
- Movement
- Romanticism
On 2 May 1808 the people of Madrid rose against the French occupation, and in the Puerta del Sol they attacked the Mamelukes, the Egyptian cavalry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. Goya shows the melee at its centre: a Mameluke slumps dead from his white horse while a Spaniard stabs the animal, daggers and sabres flash, and a Polish lancer in blue rides in from the right. The uprising was crushed and its prisoners were shot the next day, the subject of The Third of May 1808, which Goya painted as this picture's companion. Both were made in 1814, after the French had left, when Goya asked the regency for support to commemorate the heroic actions of the uprising. The canvas was damaged in a lorry accident while being evacuated during the Spanish Civil War and the lost strip at the left was restored in 2008. It hangs beside its companion in the Museo del Prado.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A cavalry melee of white horses, red turbans and flashing sabres, for a study, hallway or office at 16×24 in black. Stone, deep red or slate walls hold the violence; pair it with The Third of May 1808.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Romanticism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1814)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Second of May 1808 (The Charge of the Mamelukes) in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Second of May 1808 (The Charge of the Mamelukes) painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
