In the 1880s, the catalan modernist painter ramon casas had already tried out the representation of crowd scenes in works such as 'entrada a la plaza de toros de madrid' or 'las regatas'. After a period in which his portrait and nude compositions predominate, he returns to the motif of mass events, among which garrote vile occupies a preeminent place. The painter himself witnessed the scene of this execution, by aniceto peinador, which took place in barcelona in 1893, but when putting it on canvas, he did not insist on the morbid aspects inherent to the subject, emphasizing rather the nuance of a journalistic chronicle of the event. Casas carried out two preparatory studies for this work, in which the chimneys of barcelona's industries in the raval neighborhood can be seen in the background. The main motif focuses on the crowd that appears portrayed from a high point of view, grouped around the scaffold, where the executioner, the prisoner and the priests are located. The brotherhood of blood also participates in the scene with their characteristic hoods. Between the accused and the expectant crowd, casas introduces an empty space, which helps to enhance the tension and drama of the group that is the protagonist of the scene. Object Type: painting. Date: 1894. Dimensions: height: 127 cm (50 in); width: 166 cm (65.3 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Garrote vil, de Ramón Casas
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