However, within the grander scheme of things, one may argue that the impact of said topic covers a far greater range of professions (Carroll, 2021). Interestingly, all of these occupations lie in the realm of humanities, which is perhaps not surprising as major emotionally charged subjects are generally the main discussion point for liberal arts. Multiple professions can at least indirectly be impacted by the theme in question, with some of the most obvious ones being the teacher, the writer, or the historian.
On the other hand, the mentions of human ears and the images of soldiers on the verge of being shot are emotionally charged and overall powerful, conveying the themes behind them. Both The Colonel and The 3rd of May 1808 demonstrate grotesque and horrifying scenes that, fortunately, do not resonate with my personal experience by themselves (Forche, 2019). Yet it is largely due to cultural artifacts and pieces that provide an insight into the context of the past that individuals can imagine these horrors without experiencing them personally. The topic of this project’s artifacts has been summarized earlier as the brutality of war, which is universally acknowledged to be horrifying on multiple levels. The topic is explored using strong, disturbing images, written or visual, depending on the media the piece utilizes. The artifacts are thematically united by their portrayal of various horrors of war and its brutality. The painting is now located in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, serving as one of the most notorious and illustrative examples of the art of the corresponding era. It was created in 1814, commissioned by the provisional government, and designed to commemorate the Spanish resistance to the occupation by Napoleon’s army. The second chosen artwork is the painting entitled The 3rd of May 1808 by Francisco Goya. It was written in El Salvador in 1978 during a civil war between the US-backed military and the Foarabundo Martí National Liberation Front. The first selected cultural artifact is the poem The Colonel by Carolyn Forché.