Masterpieces: The witches' sabbath or the great he-goat

Artist	Francisco Goya
Title	The witches' sabbath or the great he-goat
Year	1819-1823
Technique	Mural (later converted to canvas)
Current location	Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

The room downstairs was dominated by two huge paintings (about 4.30 metres wide and 1.40 metres high): Pilgrimage to St. Isidore's hermitage and The witches' sabbath or the great he-goat.

The witches' sabbath or the great he-goat is also known as The great he-goat, Sabbath, or The witches gathering.

A gathering of witches with deformed faces, on the right a young woman probably about to be initiated in the witches' rites (or is she a victim?), on the left a goat in a monk's cloak personifying the devil. The atmosphere is gloomy, the participants (except maybe the young woman) are frightening.

Note the contrast between this painting and Goya's earlier rendering of the same subject, The witches' sabbath painted around 1798.

The witches' sabbath or the great he-goat is on display in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

This article also appeared in the Goya's black paintings series on HBvK . com.

Technorati tags: Goya Black paintings Witches sabbath He-goat Aquelarre Prado

Labels: Black paintings, Goya, Prado

1 Comments:

H E said...: I have just read a description of a Goya work in the novel What I Loved, and I wonder if it actually exists or was made up by the author. The description reads:
"a young, naked woman riding a goat on witches' Sabbath, I felt sure that she was all speed and hunger, that her craized ride, born of Goya's sure, swift hand, was ink bruising paper. Her hair streams out behind her and her legs may not cling much longer to the animal's body."
Could please tell me if this painting exists, what it is titled, and how I can see the image for myself.
Thank you,
Heather tigernut06@gmail.com; 16 August 2007 17:50:00 CEST