Witches in the Air, Francisco Goya (1797–98)
Francisco Goya’s Witches in the Air is a vision charged with dark wit and biting social commentary. Three witches, clad in iconic conical hats, levitate a writhing figure through the moonlit air, enacting a strange ritual that is equal parts menacing and absurd. Below, a terrified man shrouds his head in a desperate attempt to ward off evil, while a donkey—Goya’s frequent symbol for human folly—watches from the shadows, embodying the ridiculousness of superstition.
Though Goya was no believer in the supernatural, his fascination with witchcraft was profound. For him, witches served as allegories; a mockery of Spain’s lingering medieval beliefs and a subtle critique of the Spanish Inquisition’s crusade against imagined threats. Commissioned by the enlightened Duke and Duchess of Osuna, Witches in the Air transforms the irrational fears of a nation into a scene both subversive and surreal, weaving together satire, skepticism, and the power of imagination. Goya’s witches dance at the edge of reason—a challenge to the darkness of superstition and a testament to the enduring struggle between enlightenment and fear.
Cotton and polyester canvas on Radiata pine wood frame sourced from renewable forests. Includes back mounting.
