Politically liberal, he was a court painter in Madrid from 1789 onwards and navigated the changing times. His paintings and prints revolutionized art and served as constant reminders to his contemporaries that reason and enlightenment are always in danger and can turn into violence and delusion at any time. To this day, Goya’s visual indictments of war still retain the ability to impact us with their intensity. Werner Busch describes the artist as a clairvoyant observer, who has given modernity some of its most unforgettable images.