The Hurricane (El huracán)

The inscription "X.28" that appears in this painting ties it to three others by Goya which are all mentioned in the inventory made in 1812, following the death of Goya's wife.

A group of figures, painted very sketchily and in very soft tones, can be seen in the centre of the composition, fleeing from the hurricane that is approaching from the back of the scene. The incisions used to depict the violent winds of the hurricane appear to have been made with the edge of a spatula, or perhaps with split reeds, just as Mariano Goya had indicated.

The theme of disaster was a popular one, especially during the second half of the 18th century (see Fire in a Hospital). To a large degree, the way in which Goya handled this theme at the time heralded the arrival of the spirit of Romanticism, which cast serious doubt on the infallibility of enlightened thinking. Disasters, with their ability to upset our sense of order, produce in the human mind an uncontrollable feeling of chaos, provoking both terror and, simultaneously, fascination (see The Fire, The Shipwreck, and Fire in a Hospital).