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Guernica

Guernica, also known as Gernika-Lumo in Basque, is a town and municipality in the Basque Country in northern Spain. It lies in the historical territory of Biscay and is notable for its cultural and political significance within the region. The town’s name is associated with Basque language and heritage that predates the modern Spanish state.

On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was subjected to a bombing by the

The bombing inspired Pablo Picasso to create Guernica in 1937 for the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris

Today, Guernica is remembered as a landmark reference in discussions of war, art, and politics. The painting

German
Luftwaffe’s
Condor
Legion
with
Italian
support.
The
raid
caused
extensive
destruction
and
civilian
casualties
and
is
widely
cited
as
a
stark
example
of
aerial
bombardment
aimed
at
terrorizing
a
population.
The
event
drew
international
attention
and
became
a
symbol
of
the
civilian
suffering
caused
by
modern
warfare.
International
Exposition.
The
painting
is
a
large,
monochrome
oil
work
that
uses
a
cubist-inspired
arrangement
to
convey
the
horrors
of
war.
Its
imagery
includes
distressed
figures,
a
suffering
horse,
and
a
dead
child,
among
other
elements,
complicating
simple
narratives
of
conflict
and
emphasizing
human
anguish
rather
than
nationalist
triumph.
Guernica
resides
in
the
Museo
Nacional
Centro
de
Arte
Reina
Sofía
in
Madrid,
where
it
remains
one
of
Picasso’s
most
famous
works
and
a
continuing
point
of
reference
in
debates
about
the
role
of
art
in
society.