From Wikipedia:
The Third of May 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid is a 1814 oil painting by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya. It depicts a scene from the Spanish war of liberation when many innocent citizens were shot by Napoleon's troops following a popular uprising in Madrid.
Both the night and symmetrical composition of the subjects stress the drama: the faces of those about to be shot are filled with feeling, while the soldiers are shown from behind, their humanity erased and their being reduced to mere components in the implaccable machinery of death.
The positioning of the soldiers and the man with arms upraised is a concious reversal of the poses of the main characters in Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii (right) but is also a reminder of the crucifixion of Christ. The white of the victim's shirt represents the innocence and purity of the some 5,000 Spanish civilians who were executed between May 2 and May 3.
The central hero's deeply suntanned appearance and clothing unmistakably indicates that he is an outdoors worker - an ordinary annonymous man at the centre of this great unfolding tragedy. He alone looks straight at the faceless enemy. Though on his knees he is a giant who towers above all at the very moment before his death. The scene makes the canvas one of the most dramatic and visually impressive images ever made.
Its influence on later war painters is extensive, most famously Picasso's Guernica.
End note: I recommend following the links to the works for larger reproductions so you can actually see them if you are unfamiliar with them.
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