西班牙勇士 -- 哥雅
Spanish Warrior - Francisco Goya
二百年前，西班牙的一个贫困乡村里，有个打铁兼种田的生了个孩子，没钱送她上学读书，也没时间管教他，只好让他在街头上成了野孩子。
这孩子顶爱好两件事，一件是打架，一件是画画。大孩子欺负他，或者欺负小孩子。他举拳便打，即使打到头破血流，也从不罢手。
他的口袋里经常都是袋着碎砖头或小瓦块，见墙便画。他居住的那条小巷，西边墙壁都给他画上无数人物，成了他的画廊。
有一天他把大孩子打跑了，为了纪念胜利，他便在墙壁上画着打倒那大孩子的情形，恰巧有个僧侣经过，被他的
画吸引住了，对他的绘画天才很感惊异，便问他“谁教你画画，画得这样好？”“我自己教我画的”他瞪着眼睛回答说。
这个僧侣赏识了他的画画天才，便去找他的父亲，征得他父亲的同意，带他去读书学画。他常说：“我对付敌人，有两件武器，一件是拳头，一件是画画。”因此他对坏人毫不客气打他一顿。对黑暗的势力就画漫画去嘲讽他，打击他，他这种正直的行为便引起马德里拥有恶势力的人要陷害他，他只好流浪到罗马去。
他像叫化子一般露宿在颓破的房屋里，常常一两天没有饭吃，后来他回到马德里，得到老师拜尼的推荐，做了宫廷画家，专画贵族的肖像和教堂里的壁画，生活算是解决了。
哥雅虽然做了宫廷画家，却始终保持着纯朴的
哥雅雖然做了宫廷西家却始終保持着純樸的品质和艺术家的忠实良心。他的性格还是和过去一样倔强固执，从不肯奉迎，所以招致了不少麻烦。
有一次查理第四叫他画一幅全体家属的绘像，要他画得庄严、高贵、和蔼、慈祥，可是哥雅完全不理会这些，却把查理第四的卑鄙下流，刻毒的性格如实地画了出来。又有一次惠灵吞公爵打了胜仗回来，趾高气扬地坐着让哥雅画像。他说哥雅把他的眼睛画得不够威武，脸色又灰白了一点。哥雅马上停了下笔来，把调色盘迎面向公爵掷过去并说，“你这只会饮酒食肉玩女人的傢伙懂什么？”
这是一八〇五年之前的事情，这以后哥雅的辉煌的时代才开始，公元一八〇八年，西班牙的苦难来了。马德里被拿破仑的大军蹂躏，哥雅激起了无比的愤怒，为了表现西班牙人的痛苦，他到西班牙军队去搜集材料，回来以来马上以最大的热情，创作了两幅油画：“一八〇八年五月二日的事变”和“五月三日的屠杀”这是美术史上两幅重要的作品。对于哥雅来说，他艺术上的现实主义地位是因此确定了的。
哥雅另外还有一套有名的连续性铜版画“战争的灾难”是以这次的战争为题材的--主要是暴露拿破仑军队的残暴和表现西班牙人的英勇，有着强烈的控诉力量。
他是一个热爱国家，痛恨战争，反对侵略的画家。他身经这场壮烈的战斗，便运用他的画笔去打击敌人，刻画侵略者的狰狞面目，向全人类控诉，把争取自由的精神，传播到人间。“战争的灾难”这套画是因此而制作的，这是套铜板组画，共有八十五幅，由一八〇八开始直到一八二二年才完部完成。
于1823年法军再度越境，西班牙又再陷入战争的漩涡中，已经是七十七岁高龄的哥雅，不得不逃亡到法国的波尔特多去。于一八二八年四月十六日逝世，享年八十二岁。
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Two hundred years ago, in a poor village in Spain, a child was born to a blacksmith who also worked as a farmer. His family couldn't afford to send him to school, and they had little time to supervise him, so he grew up as a street child.
This child had two great passions: fighting and drawing. He would often get into fights, even if it meant getting seriously injured, and he always carried small bricks or tiles in his pockets, which he used to draw on the walls he passed by. The western walls of the alley where he lived became his gallery, covered with countless drawings of people.
One day, after defeating a bigger child in a fight, he decided to commemorate his victory by drawing the scene on the wall. A passing monk was captivated by the drawing and asked him, "Who taught you to draw so well?" The boy, with wide eyes, replied, "I taught myself."
The monk was impressed by the boy's artistic talent and sought permission from his father to take him under his wing for an education in art. The boy often said, "I have two weapons to deal with enemies: my fists and my drawings." He never hesitated to fight bullies and used his art to satirize and criticize dark forces. His honest actions eventually led to trouble, and he had to flee to Rome.
In Rome, he lived like a vagabond, often going for days without food. But he continued to paint, even in the darkest times. Later, he returned to Madrid, where he found support from his teacher Bayeu and became a court painter, specializing in portraits of nobles and church murals.
However, Goya never lost his stubbornness or his integrity as an artist. He refused to compromise his artistic principles to please patrons, often portraying them as they truly were, flaws and all. This honesty sometimes led to conflicts, and he had a reputation for being uncompromising.
One time, King Charles IV asked him to paint a family portrait, but Goya portrayed the king as he saw him: weak, indecisive, and unimpressive. Another time, a duke complained that his portrait didn't make him look fierce enough. Goya threw his paintbrushes at the duke, declaring, "What does a debauched glutton like you know?"
In 1808, Spain suffered during the Napoleonic invasion, and Goya's anger and pain fueled his art. He created two iconic paintings, "The Second of May 1808" and "The Third of May 1808," that vividly depicted the suffering of the Spanish people and condemned the brutality of the invaders.
Goya also produced a famous series of etchings known as "The Disasters of War," depicting the horrors of the conflict. He was a patriot who despised war, opposed aggression, and used his art to protest. His works were a call for freedom and an indictment of the dark forces that sought to oppress humanity.
Goya's legacy endures as a symbol of the power of art to reflect the truth and to resist tyranny. Despite the hardships he faced throughout his life, he remained a fighter for justice and a beacon of artistic integrity until his death in Bordeaux, France, in 1828, at the age of 82.