Guernica

Guernica

(gārnē`kä), officially Gernika-Lumo, historic town (1990 pop. 16,422), Bizkaia (Vizcaya or Biscay) prov., N Spain, in the Basque Country. It has metallurgical, furniture, and food manufacturers, and some tourism. The oak of Guernica, under which the Biscayan general assembly used to meet, is a symbol of the rights and liberties of the Basques. In Apr., 1937, German planes, aiding the insurgents in the Spanish civil war, bombed and destroyed Guernica. The indiscriminate killing of women and children aroused world opinion, and the bombing of Guernica became a symbol of fascist brutality. The event inspired one of Picasso's most celebrated paintings. Guernica is also called Guernica y Luno.

Guernica

 

Guernica y Luno, city in northern Spain, in the Basque country (Biscay Province). Population, approximately 5,000. Located in the Cantabrian Mountains in the Mundaca valley.

Guernica is an ancient center of Basque culture. During the Civil War and the Italo-German intervention of 1936-39, Guernica was subjected to a lengthy and devastating bombardment by German aircraft. The barbarous destruction of the ancient city aroused the indignation of progressive people throughout the world. Picasso’s painting, Guernica (1937), is devoted to that event.

Guernica

bombing of Guernica (1937); memorialized by Picasso’s painting. [Span. Hist.: NCE, 1158; Art Hist.: Osborne, 867]

See: Massacre

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Guernica

painting by Picasso depicting horror of war. [Art: Osborne, 866–867]

See: War

Guernica

a town in N Spain: formerly the seat of a Basque parliament; destroyed in 1937 by German bombers during the Spanish Civil War, an event depicted in one of Picasso's most famous paintings. Pop.: 15 454 (2003 est.)