The other side of Guernica

Abstract

Many of us have been accompanied by the image of Guernica since we were young. I cut it out of my Social Studies book to carry it in my wallet while I was an EGB student. Some years later, I was able to see it in person at the Casón del Buen Retiro in Madrid and I was, as are the majority of people, overwhelmed. However, I was unhappy with most of the common analytical interpretations of the painting in which every element has an individual meaning. For this reason I went back to see it, this time at the Museo Reina Sofía and the picture hanging in front of me reminded me of something each one of us knows. Those elements which are usually analyzed separately suddenly were pieced together as a whole: Guernica is manger blown up by
bombs.