What was the medium of Goya's 'The Third of May 1808'?

Francisco Goya’s The Third of May 1808 was painted in oil on canvas.

Goya completed the work in 1814 to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon’s forces during the occupation of Madrid. It depicts the reprisal execution of civilians after the uprising of May 2, 1808, with a brightly illuminated central victim facing a rigid French firing squad.

The oil medium allowed Goya to create stark contrasts between the lantern-lit victims and the shadowed soldiers. The rough handling, dramatic lighting, and emotional intensity depart from the polished conventions of academic history painting, helping make the work a landmark of modern war imagery.

The painting is often confused with Goya’s print series The Disasters of War, which consists of aquatint etchings rather than oil paintings. The Third of May 1808 is a large canvas measuring about 268 by 347 centimetres and is housed in Madrid’s Museo del Prado.