[113] In the 20th century, Europe saw the rise of fascist dictators, like Adolf Hitler. As war clouds gathered, Europeans got a foretaste of WWII with the Spanish Civil War. That tragedy inspired the creation of one of the most powerful pieces of 20th-century art.

[114] It was a typical market day in the peaceful Spanish town of Guernica, when suddenly warplanes — courtesy of Hitler's air force — appeared overhead…and reduced the town to rubble.

[115, Guernica, 1937, Picasso; Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid] In the wake of history's first saturation bombing, Picasso wove the shattered shards into a large Cubist-inspired painting that told the sad story. A woman looks to the sky, horses scream, a soldier falls — body shattered, sword broken. A wounded woman flees a burning house. A bull — symbol of Spain — ponders it all, watching over a mother and her dead baby — a modern pietà. Picasso put a human face on collateral damage. His painting caused a sensation, throwing a stark light on the brutality of rising fascism…and the specter of World War II.