litical power. Guernica was almost completely destroyed. News of the mounting death toll spread rapidly. However, universally, the impact of the Guernica bombing could have been minimal. While Spain would surely never have forgotten Franco’s reign of terror and its zenith with the bombing of Guernica, Picasso contributed an everlasting reminder to the entire world of the threat of Fascism and the evil of unrelenting power. Having been invited to contribute a piece to the Spanish Pavilion for Paris’ World’s Fair in 1937, Picasso was inspired by the grief of Spain to present an image that would make the most powerful statement against Franco yet. His creation became not only the symbol of the Spanish crisis but of protest of Fascism for all time. Not only is the size of the mural overwhelming, but the shocking images that mix classic symbols with modern technique provide an emotion and passion that is unforgettable. While passion and empathy undeniably drove Picasso to choose his subject, Guernica, it is not the fruit of spontaneous emotion, but of a contemplation for the unpredictable fate of all humans at the mercy of evil, which is expressed through his dedication to the past. “The deliberation with which Picasso worked out the symbolism of Guernica and the form exactly appropriate to its expression represents one aspect of his debt to the long tradition of classical art” (Blunt 44). Picasso, while ahead of his contemporaries in innovative style and technique, does not portray contemporary imagery. Specifically, he does not represent the scene realistically as he eliminates any distinct features of the event such as symbols of Fascism itself. Only the title of the work gives any indication of the subject which is being expressed, making this piece applicable to many events throughout modern history. It is Picasso’s use of classic, ancient and religious symbols that creates this tone. “It appears that Picasso, lamenting for the Guernica victims, calls upon past great lamentations” (Becraft 21). The design of Guernica is formulated upon the banal symbols of each figure. In comparing Picasso to predecessors of political propaganda it is clearly defined that “in these paintings the artists were not concerned to show the beauties of nature or the nobility of man, but on the contrary the evil of the world and the brutality of human beings. They therefore felt at liberty to underline the ugliness of the created universe, to distort the human figure, and to invent monsters to convey their meaning. But Picasso, who had broken down these conventions, was able to go further, to use more violent distortions, to disrupt the bodies of human beings and animals in a much more drastic manner. In his Guernica the expression of horror is even greater than the models he followed” (Blunt 56). Picasso did not invent his figures nor did he create monsters, but altered prosaic symbols with abstract treatment to make their representations shockingly grotesque. One example, “the formalized features and the open mouth of the principle figure in Poussin’s The Massacre of the Innocents reveal unmistakably their origin in the masks which Greek and Roman actors wore when acting tragic parts, and it is not unlikely that Picasso also had such models in mind when he employed this device” (Blunt 47). Picasso adopted such recognizable features but used his personal style to make the effect far more shocking. The crouching mother, on the far left side, holds her child in her lap, limply, with his head tilted backward, hanging lifelessly in her arms. Her head is flung upward, toward the sky, and her mouth is open as if to signify her shrieking cries. This scene is comprehensible, not just to the sympathetic mo

Some topics in this essay:
Yin Yang, World’s Fair, Greek Roman, Crucifix Christian, Guernica Picasso, Horrors War, Western Europe, Civil War, Age” Blunt, Francisco Franco, greek roman, political propaganda, spanish civil war, forces evil, contemplation forces, blunt 44, figures represent, facial features, female figures, scene christ, modern history, contemplation forces evil,