him to be good in the eyes of God so as not to receive thepunishment of eternity in hell. The soldier is of the same representation, for whilehe has suffered as ghastly death he has fought for the good of the Spanish peopleagainst the evil of Fascism. He is the inspiration to the masses to take control oftheir own fate by risking all they have for the purpose of saving humankind fromsuch evil.The soaring woman who carries the lamp into the center of the painting hasthe facial features characteristic of Greek and Roman goddesses. She carries thelight over the scene of tragedy. A similar figure in Rubens’ The Horrors of War,1687, extends her hand to a terrified man. The passionate expression on the faceof the lightbearer in Guernica is almost a replica of the woman’s in Rubenspainting. The Renaissance figure conveys compassion and anguish over scenes ofhorror in her face, as is unmistakable in the expression of the woman carrying thelamp over Guernica. While she may represent hope, another interpretation of thisfigure, however, gives an entirely different meaning.It has also been interpreted that this figure is a symbol of evil such as thefemale figures of evil in Rome known as furies. In Latin the word Lucifer literallymeans “light bearer”. The soaring figure may depict a helper of Satan known as afury because she carries a lamp. She is also significantly larger than the otherfemale figures below which offers a suggestion that she is different, and possiblynot mortal. If this is the case, this figure’s expression of evil goes far beyond thespecific event to a greater and more universal suggestion of evil. Picasso’s symbolism does not distinguish itself between animals andpeople. The animals in Guernica are not limited to their true role, but like thehuman figures represent a larger sector of humanity. “The horse is the good inus, for one role; the bull is the evil in us, for one r...
