Manifest Post

This drawing, entitled "This is the worst" (translated from Spanish) was made by the Spanish Artist Goya in the early 19th Century using red chalk.
The subject matter depicts a wolf sitting whilst writing on a scroll, he writes (translated) "miserable humanity, the fault is yours". Here Goya's message is plain: that man himself is responsible for the evil that befalls him.
Goya was commenting on the state of affairs as he saw it after witnessing the War of Independence during which time he remained in Madrid and therefore knew and was affected by the violence and atrocities being committed there.
Goya's satirical composition makes for a clear and damning statement about humanity, a similar pessimism permeated through many of Goya's other drawings and etchings, with themes of despair, torture and atrocity.
Whist some of his other work merely depicted scenes of violence and horror, works like this one (with some fantastical element introduced) work even more powerfully I would suggest, as they give Goya's artistic ability free reign in order to convey his message, which he achieves with great clarity.