“A powerful defense of Guernica. . . was almost immediately marshaled by the artists, writers, and poets of the Cahiers d’Art circle,” Herschel B. Chipp, one of the painting’s prominent ...

Guernica, bombed by the German legion Condor, 1937. | brandstaetter images/GettyImages. Picasso’s painting depicts the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica on April 26, 1937.

By April 1937, Guernica was the last pro-Republican community standing between Franco's forces and the major city of Bilbao. With German and Italian air support, Franco moved to take the town.

Picasso’s “Guernica” has long been called to speak during wartime. Our critic visited Spain to take its measure.