In the midst of a civil war in Spain, the Spanish Republican government commissioned Picasso to paint a mural to represent them at the world fair. Picasso accepted, even though he had never explored politics within his art. As the war raged on, Picasso witnessed the horrific coverage of the German bombing of Guernica, issued by Spanish Nationalists, he started to work on the mural. Displayed as the central attraction, people were shocked when they saw Picasso’s work. Expecting to see advances in technology and a celebration of progress, visitors of the fair instead saw mangled bodies, destroyed families, and tortured faces. The neutral and monochromatic color palette utilized emphasizes the true despair of the atrocities. After the fair, the image was put on tour in Scandinavia and Europe, to further spread awareness. As Spanish Nationalists finally took control of Spain, the painting began its long exile from the country and from Nazi influence. Although Picasso never lived to see its return to Spain, as the painting travelled internationally, it grew in both fame and controversy. The painting embodies the zeitgeist as Picasso does not dilute his depiction of war. Although the painting isn’t accurate, it’s an important emotional perspective on the senseless inhumanity of war. Ultimately, the photo allows us to remember that war is not something to be glorified, especially when one’s own citizens are being tortured, as is in civil war.