Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)
We see the beautiful possible representing Spain and glorifying her like social commentary during the baroque era. The warping of reality introduced by Goya is carried into this image. The title of the exhibit is he who fights with monsters, definitely comes into play here as the monstrous face is being strangled. However, it is being strangled by an equally monstrous limb and both are erupting from the same body. In essence the limb has become just as monstrous as the face its trying to fight. This erupting of both limbs out of the body could be to symbolize both factions in a civil war come from the same nation and both tear apart their nation. Additionally we see the bleak background common to Dali's paintings. However in this painting there is a little bit of blue sky perhaps meaning that there is still hope for Spain, even though the world around it is becoming bleaker and bleaker with the fascist rise to power. We see what could be a snake wrapping itself around the neck of the beautiful figure. Perhaps signifying foreign influence trying to choke Spain. Finally, this image reflects the theme of change in political commentary we see aspects of previous political commentary combined into an image trying to warn Spain about the horrors of war. Which is another common theme in Spanish political art, trying to highlight the horrors of war.
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster