Nothing. The Event Will Tell, plate 69 from The Disasters of War
1812/20, published 1863
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes Spanish, 1746-1828
Spain
The sign resting on the skeletal remains reads “nada,” which means “nothing” in Spanish. Whether referring to the outcome of the war and suffering, the vindication of the dead, or the promise of an afterlife, the nihilism communicated in this image is some of the most intense in the series.
Etching, burnished aquatint, lavis, drypoint, and burin on ivory wove paper with gilt edges