And It Can’t be Helped (Y no hai Remedio) by Francisco Goya (Interpretation and Analysis)

Y no hai Remedio
Source: Khan Academy

Yesterday, I discussed Pablo Picasso’s Cat Catching a Bird, a painting that represents the torments of war. Picasso painted in response to the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939; however, more than one hundred years earlier the great Spanish artist Francisco Goya tackled the same subject matter in response to a different conflict: the Peninsular War.

Goya has often been referred to as a painter of the Enlightenment (and if you’re wondering where else you’ve heard that, I probably said it last week). And, while the Enlightenment movement clearly underpins his entire oeuvre, his catalog is much broader, from both a stylistic and thematic perspective.

Y no hai Remedio—which translates to And It Can’t be Helped or literally And there is no Remedy—is darker and more sinister than Goya’s earlier work; however, like his Caprichos series it also represents a blistering criticism of contemporary Spanish life. Y no hai Remedio comes from The Disasters of War series, which Goya created in response to the Peninsular war, the gruesome and bloody Napoleonic invasion of Spain.

Goya’s print depicts prisoners of war being executed by French soldiers. The central figure, a man in white, is blindfolded and tied to a stake. A twisted corpse lies at his feet, while the barrels of rifles— entering the frame of the image from the right— loom towards the man. The message is clear. The man in white is about to die, and there’s nothing that can be done about it (as the title of the print suggests). 

Y no hai Remedio (Detail)
Source: Khan Academy

The print encapsulates the hopelessness and futility of war in one stark image. In studying Y no hai Remedio, the viewer can sense Goya’s frustration and anger at the senseless loss of life that war inevitably produces. The principles of the Enlightenment movement suggested that everything in life could be quantified and understood with reason and logic, but Goya’s print patently destroys this narrative. Y no hai Remedio highlights man’s inhumanity to man, drawing attention to the mindless, unreasoned brutality that has been part of human life since the dawn of time.

From an artistic perspective, Y no hai Remedio feels very modern. Other depictions of war from the same time period romanticize the subject matter, painting it as a glorious and honorable affair. In contrast, Y no hai Remedio emphasizes the gritty reality of violent conflict. The anonymous rifle barrels, seemingly unheld by any hands, are another modern touch. In a time in which art was carefully composed to portray a complete narrative arc, the rifles give Y no hai Remedio a fragmented, disjointed aura that makes it feel modern and relevant to this day.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.