Guernica

Large oil painting (3.5 m x 7.8 m/11 ft 5 in x 25 ft 6 in) by Pablo Picasso as a mural for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1937 (now in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid), inspired by the bombing of Guernica, the seat of the Basque parliament during the Spanish Civil War. The painting, executed entirely in black, white, and grey, was the culmination of years of experimentation. It has since become a symbol of the senseless destruction of war.

Guernica

Town in the Basque province of Vizcaya, northern Spain; population (1991) 16,000. Guernica was almost completely destroyed in 1937 by German bombers aiding Gen Franco in the Spanish Civil War; it was rebuilt in 1946. The bombing inspired a painting by Pablo Picasso and a play by the Spanish-born dramatist Fernando Arrabal.

Traditionally the Basque parliament met under an oak tree at Guernica, and the liberties and rights of the Basques were reaffirmed here. Castilian kings would, at least once in their reign, visit Guernica to swear that they would respect the rights of the Basques. The stump of the original tree is preserved; nearby is a younger tree sprung from one of its acorns.