How To Write A Rhetorical Analysis Of Guernica

In 1937, the Spanish government commissioned Pablo Picasso to paint an oil on canvas mural for the 1937 World Fair in Paris, France. Guernica is a large piece, sitting at twenty-six feet wide and eleven feet tall, and was placed at the entrance of their pavilion. Picasso found inspiration from reading about the bombing of Guernica, Spain by the German air force, and although not a complete portrayal of the event, Picasso conveys the suffering and agony of the people and the tragedy of the war. Using only black, white, and grey oil paints, the mural uses symbolism, intersecting lines, and cubism to emphasize the misery of the people rather than the focusing on the entire incident. When first looking at the image, the eyes are drawn to the center where there are intersecting lines that start at the bottom corners and meet at the top of the lamp. We see several victims of the bombing, some dead some living, a large, white linear shape in the background, an abstract horse and a disfigured bull. Although the focus is concentrated on the heart of the painting, Picasso directs a greater measure of the eye from the bottom, right corner to the top left corner where there is a lady holding her child. The shading of the horses’ neck suggests that it is …show more content…
A light bulb and an oil lamp. They symbolize, not hope, but the bombs that were dropped for hours in Guernica. Art historian Tomas Llorens says, “In Spanish, an electric bulb is called ‘bombia,’ and ‘bombia’ is like the diminutive of ‘bomb.’ So, ‘bomba-bombia’ is a verbal poetic metaphor for the terrifying power of technology to destroy us.” The theme of the 1937 Paris Exposition was modern technology, suggesting that Picasso is commenting that technological developments can bring death and destruction. The oil lamp contrast with the light bulb because it is not as modern, and although it is not lighting the scene, it is enlightening the viewer on the bombing of