Memorial Day is tomorrow, so Happy Memorial Day for those who celebrate. Generally, I try to select something appropriate from Goya’s Disasters of War, so here’s “Que valor” (“What courage”) from the Philadelphia Museum of Art:
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Goya’s war subjects focused primarily on anonymous scenes of brutality and hardship rather than the traditional images of celebrated battles or individuals. One exception is this portrayal of Agustina de Aragón, a heroine of the 1808 siege of Zaragoza, the town where Goya was born.
The popular story claims that Agustina, after finding all the Spanish artillerymen dead or wounded, rushes over the bodies to fire a cannon at the French soldiers.
A reminder that Memorial Day is the traditional date to begin planting a garden in Maine. Garden scenes are Plantidotes, even if no plants are yet visible.