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Masterpiece
| Artist | Francisco de Goya |
|---|---|
| Title | Two men fighting with clubs |
| Year | Between 1819 and 1823 |
| Technique | Mural converted to canvas |
| Current location | Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain |
Two men fighting with clubs
Two men fighting with clubs is far brighter than any of the downstairs paintings. The scenery is attractive and peaceful. The blackness of this painting is not in the colours but in the subject matter. That is far from peaceful and contrasts sharply with the pretty background. The two men dueling with a stick are buried knee-deep in the sandy ground so that they can't flee: This is a duel to the death.
The background is older than the two duelists. Goya had originally decorated his house with bright landscapes like the background in this painting. He later overpainted some of these with dark, gloomy scenes, and added dark, gloomy details to others. Why, we will never know.
