This is bad (Esto es malo)

Under the cover of darkness, three French soldiers have entered a monastery and killed a monk who is lying on the ground. In the foreground, a French soldier wearing a concentrated, enraged expression runs his sword through the white habit of another monk whose face is distorted with pain. The monk spreads his arms in the gesture of one who does not fear death, similar to that made by the woman in print no. 26, One cannot look at this (No se puede mirar). The scene takes place before the entirely indifferent, almost complacent gaze of two more soldiers.

In this print, Goya, who in other works criticizes certain attitudes of the clergy, openly repudiates the brutal act taking place with the title This is bad. The spitefulness of the killing is heightened by the dark atmosphere which is penetrated by a beam of light that enters the composition from the left-hand side. It is possible that the monk was surprised as he slept in his cell, the light entering through the open door with the same violence as the French soldiers.

The artist has used etching in abundance on the right-hand side of the print, recreating the shadows with dense horizontal lines penetrated only by the light, expressed by a triangle of aquatint.

During the Spanish War of Independence, it was relatively common for French troops to enter and attack monasteries. Enrique Lafuente Ferrari mentions various significant massacres of monks, including those that took place at Rioseco, Uclés, Cuenca and Valencia.

This print is linked with the following, no. 47, This is how it happened (Así sucedió) in which another monk is the victim of a brutal attack.