Witches' Sabbath

Witches' Sabbath is one of the fourteen Black Paintings that Francisco de Goya executed in oil directly on the plaster walls of his house, the Quinta del Sordo, between about 1820 and 1823. The works are known today by various titles, none of them chosen by the artist, who left no written record of his intentions. The Spanish title Aquelarre comes from the Basque word akelarre, the name for a gathering of witches, and the painting shows exactly such an assembly.

In the centre, a goat-like figure rises from a mound of earth, shown in dark silhouette with its mouth open, apparently addressing a circle of crouched old women, many of them frightened. Some bow their heads, while others gaze up at him with almost dazed wonder. A woman seen from behind at the front, wearing a white hood like a novice's veil, stands apart from the group, and it has been suggested that she may be a candidate about to be initiated into the coven. Nigel Glendinning reads the scene as an initiation presided over by the devil.

What stands out most is the treatment of the figures: distorted faces, almost animal in their features, and a palette dominated by blacks, ochres and reddish earths, with faint white patches showing through. The paint is applied loosely and quickly, with finer lines outlining the forms. Together these means create an atmosphere of nightmare and infernal ritual. Goya had already treated the same subject in 1797-1798, in a small picture made for a series for the Duke of Osuna's country estate.

The canvas now in the Prado results from the transfer of the mural, carried out from about 1874, during which a strip along the right-hand side was lost. This cut disturbed the original balance of the composition, which now feels unevenly weighted. Even so, the work is central to understanding the Black Paintings, in which fear, superstition and old age become the very substance of the image.

Painter

Francisco Goya

Date

1820

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

140 × 438 cm

Museum

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Movement

Romanticism

Genre

genre art

Depicts

witch, Witches' Sabbath

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