Francisco Goya's "Execution of the Rebels"("Executions of the Third of May, 1808"), proves that the subject of a painting may be ugly and cruel, but the picture can be a great work of art if it is painted by a genius, and the aesthetics and content are significant. This masterpiece is painted and drawn in a looser, more modern style, with less sculptural forms (than Caravaggio's "Deposition," for example), and flatter shapes that will influence French painter Edouard Manet in the last half of the 19th Century. The revenge of Napoleon's invading troops on the Spaniards who rebelled against their invasion, attacking the French, is taken by firing squad at night. The subject of the painting is the horror of the execution. Goya has massed his figures in four distinct... (http://jessieevans-dongrayart.com/Jessie_Evans_Don_Gray_Art/Art_Essays__Francisco_Goya_%281746-1828%29_Execution_of_the_Rebels_%28Executions_of_the_Third_of_May,_1808%29,_1814-1815,_Prado_Museum,_Madrid,_Spain.html)