3-098-982 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Execution by Firing Squad of Torrijos and his Companions on the beach at Málaga, 1888. Commissioned by royal decree, this was one of the greatest political manifestos of all Spanish painting in defence of human freedom crushed by authoritarianism and one of the very few cases in which a clear propagandistic message was directly inspired by government officialdom. The scene is the execution by firing squad of general José María Torrijos (1791-1831) and his closest unconditional followers, who had been the outstanding protagonists of the constitutional regime during the Liberal Triennium quashed by Ferdinand VII in 1823. The Triennium was followed by Ferdinand's iron absolutism, including the persecution, imprisonment and execution of the previous government's leaders and followers. Torrijos was the victim of an ambush prepared by Governor Vicente González Moreno, who had promised him success in his rebellion if he sailed from Gibraltar to Malaga with some seventy trustworthy men. They were betrayed in the early morning hours of November 30 to December 1, 1831. There was no trial no trial, and they were shot on the beach at Malaga 'for the crime of high treason and conspiracy against the divine rights of His Majesty's sovereignty'.