vi-va el pue-blo his-to-ri-co de ma-drid
On the morning of the 2nd of May, 1808, the cries of one of the little princes, being forced into a carriage waiting to carry him off to Bayonne, inspired the onlooking people of Madrid to rise up against the French Imperial Forces that had occupied the city and effectively 'kidnapped' the Royal Family. In a battle that spanned the whole of the day and the entirety of the [the much-smaller] city, the lay-people of the city fought with household knives and trade tools against the finest of Napoleon's undefeatable army. After the vicious institution of martial law and mass executions (at Principe Pio hill and the Paseo del Prado) through the night of May 2nd and well-into May 3rd, over 1,000 locals lost their lives. Their deaths, however, were not in vain; the 2nd of May became the rallying cry for the people of Spain, inspiring revolts against the French which would eventually evolve into the War of Independence, and at this conflict's conclusion the little Emperor and his famous army would be defeated for the first time.
On the 200th anniversary of this historic event, Madrid commemorated its fallen with a series of public events.
The first of the acts consisted in the symbolic return of the paintings of Francisco Goya - contemporary chronicler of the events of May 2nd and 3rd - to the people of Madrid.
The 3rd of May.
Click to view
The Clothed Maja.
The 2nd of May.
The fellow in black is our Lord Mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon.
The following act consisted in the artistic reenactment of the charge of the Mamelukes, elite moorish guards of the French Imperial Forces, in the exact place where it happened.
This band, from Egypt, was splendid.
The final act consisted in a stunning, Cirque-du-Solei-type staging of the events of the 2nd of May and the executions of the 3rd in the Plaza de Cibeles.
That's my favourite painting in the Prado being projected onto the Casa de Americas.
