3-098-929 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

For the Fatherland, 1884. Alternative title: For the homeland. The Spanish army was not involved in any action in the year this painting was exhibited. The theme, therefore, was probably chosen by the artist to commemorate the anonymous victims who had fallen years earlier in the Carlist skirmishes. The core of the painting's storyline lies in the cost to the homeland, as specifically and precisely expressed in the pain suffered with the loss of a loved one, removed from reference to any cause. The work depicts a soldier who gives their son's bloodstained scapular and army greatcoat - with the rank of sergeant - to his elderly parents as the only mementoes of a brave man. The father rests his head on his right hand, while the weeping mother and a little sister are moved by immense grief.