A Dog. Just a Dog

What is it about this enigmatic, hermetic, seductive, desolate painting that has attracted and captivated so many people over the ages? There is special relevance in connecting The Dog and The Disasters of War. Make no mistake: we are disturbed by Goya not only because he shows us things we would rather not look at, but also because when we come up with the eternal alibi of consoling ourselves by judging and condemning others. What do we see? The head of a dog emerging in a landscape, or rather a non- landscape. In short, a painting that is at the same time extremely hermetic and extremely eloquent. But what if everything were so moving, so radically human, so vitally inescapable, that it distracted us in our contemplation. The only gaze it admits is a fully, totally contemplative one, without the distraction of having anything to contemplate.