June 16- San Sebastian

While in Madrid we got to see many places that we have read about in our class text. One of the first sites we saw the Palacio Real de Madrid. When I saw the outside, I was blown away with amazing architecture. When I walked to the center, I felt like a small ant in a huge colony. The walls were tall, strong, and the stone that I walked on were placed to where the darker stones made a pathway. It reminded me of the red carpet celebrities walk on for some reason. I am still in disbelief I actually stood there for a while and walked through a palace. While reading assigned chapters, I learned King Philip, who was of Hapsburg, got the palace in the making. The Bourbons were the ones who put final touches on it.

At the Prado, a painting by Francisco de Goya titled “The Third of May” can be found. This painting shows a Spanish citizen caught off guard and is about to get executed. This man is shown with others dead at his knees with his arms held up in the air as if he is ready to surrender. The soldiers faces can not be seen and the uniforms are detailed but not quite detailed enough to prove the executioners are French. The painting is dark and gloomy. The only thing brought to light is the soldiers boots and the man about to get executed. I saw the painting and thought war and killing others was random. I wonder, if the man in the center saw his friends getting killed, why didn’t he get away. Goya captured shock, truth and reality all in one. He contributed greatly to the art world because he made others aware of the current situation.