Francisco de Goya (b. 1746, Fuentedetodos)

Witches Sabbath

1797-98, oil on canvas, 43 x 30 cm.

Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid, marked as public domain.

The painting conjures up a ghastly satanic initiation, with the half-man, half-goat deity Baphomet and a group of witches in a circle on a moonlit hillside.  Some of the women hold up infants, with one dead child lying on the ground and others dangling from a stick. Bats circle in the night sky and spectators watch from afar. This depiction represents Goya’s satirical portrayal of the folk talks featuring witches and devils which ate children and which circulated widely in rural Spain. Goya’s intention was no doubt to ridicule these superstitions and express anger at their use by senior figures in the Church and government to frighten the poor into submission.  It has also been interpreted as a protest against the Spanish Inquisition which had for 300 years held Spain in a grip of terror, burning at the stake thousands of innocent people accused of witchcraft and religious heresy.