Hola Picasso

Pablo Picasso’s piece of art, Guernica, imposingly large, 3.5m by 7.8m, a mural-sized oil painting on canvas. In muted colours of grey, black and white, the painting can be seen to have severalsections that come together, overall, to form a single coherent statement of defiance over the bombing of Guernica. Picasso's abstract style serves to deliberately confuse the spectator's gaze at thecentre of the painting, where figures and events can be picked out only after careful analysis. The gaze is instead drawn, in most cases, to the left of the canvas, where a bull watches a woman who isgrieving over a dead child. It is this element of the painting, more than any other, that dominates many interpretations.

In the centre, a horse can be made out, but there are other, hidden imagespresent too, including a human skull and another bull. The spear that has run through the horse and caused it so much pain creates a gaping wound that dominates much of the rest of the scene. It is alsoimportant to recognise that the action seems to be taking place in a room, at least on the left side, while a burning building is visible on the right. Picasso's intention appears to be to place thiscarnage both inside and outside, and to show how it brings man down to the level of beasts. The bull on the left is the crucial link between the human and animal aspects of war, as it stops to considerthe pain of the grieving woman just as the other pull gores the horse.

The lightbulb in the sun, at the top of the painting, symbolises the hopelessness of man's attempt to appeal to God for help.Picasso is showing how God is simply another manmade items, like a lightbulb, and there is no promise of deliverance from the horrific scene that is unfolding. Meanwhile a woman seems to floatthrough a window with a flame held up, but the look of horror on her face clearly shows that she was not prepared for the scene that she is now witnessing. Again, Picasso appears to be showing the lack of...