Don’t Pick Me

We’ve all been there, right? Dreading the teacher calls on us in class to answer a question about a book we haven’t read. Seriously, though, with context, their expressions make perfect sense. This is the “Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga” by Antonio Gisbert Pérez. It’s a Spanish painting, one of the best from the 19th century.

What you can’t see is the men strewn across the beach at the bottom of the painting. This fascinating piece of history was very real. In 1831, Torrijos and his friends were executed without trial for the crime of insurrection. Now, there’s no way to verify the exact expressions on everyone’s face, but the emotions were taken from direct accounts.