When You Are Under The Punishment
Francisco Goya’s Witches’ Sabbath, show’s the power of the devil to convince anyone and make them believe that the path to right direction is the devil. Created during a time of political unrest, Enlightenment skepticism, and the lingering shadow of the Inquisition, this painting stands as one of Goya’s most iconic and disturbing portrayals of superstition, evil, and the perversion of innocence.
This analysis will guide you through the visual and symbolic intricacies of Witches’ Sabbath, its historical and cultural context, and the artist’s grim intent in crafting such a nightmarish tableau. We will delve into its meaning, unpack its unsettling imagery, and examine why it continues to grip the imagination more than two centuries after its creation.
What Is Witches Sabbath by Goya All About?
At first glance, Witches’ Sabbath (Spanish: El Aquelarre) appears to be a scene plucked from a fevered dream, a grim nocturnal gathering of witches, with a towering, horned goat presiding as the central figure. The scene is terrifying, grotesque, and drenched in darkness, both literal and metaphorical. The painting was originally part of a series created for the Duke and Duchess of Osuna in the late 18th century, a collection focused on witchcraft and the supernatural.
Unlike later Black Paintings created directly on the walls of Goya’s house, this version of Witches’ Sabbath was made earlier, around 1789, and is known for its more structured composition, though no less haunting in subject.
At its core, the painting serves as a satirical condemnation of superstition, religious dogma, and the manipulation of fear. Goya was a child of the Enlightenment and lived during a time when rationalism was gaining ground, yet the Spanish Inquisition remained a powerful force. In Witches’ Sabbath, Goya confronts the irrational fear-mongering that such institutions relied upon, mocking both the believers and the purveyors of these grotesque fantasies.
What Is Happening in Witches’ Sabbath?
In the painting, a large group of witches surrounds a black goat, symbolic of the Devil, who is rearing up on his hind legs. His eyes are wide and eerily expressive. He is positioned slightly off-center, yet he dominates the scene as he appears to be addressing or initiating the gathered figures. The witches, old and young, grotesquely exaggerated in features, look toward him with rapt attention or worshipful awe.
Several of the women appear to be offering infants or bones, suggesting either ritual sacrifice or offering. One child is limp, possibly dead or enchanted, and others appear to be part of some sinister exchange. The figures are gaunt, their eyes sunken and hollow, some missing teeth, and others grinning grotesquely. Their poses are unnatural, as if they are entranced or in mid-ritual. There is an aura of decay and death, a mockery of sacred rites twisted into diabolical theatre.
Above them looms a moonless, barren night, and in the distance, bats or owls flap through the air, birds traditionally associated with witchcraft and the occult.
It is a gathering of darkness, both figuratively and literally. There is no trace of hope or redemption in this scene. Every element is infused with menace and mockery.
Symbolism and Interpretation of Witches’ Sabbath
Goya’s use of symbolism in this painting is deliberate and deeply layered. Let’s break down the core elements:
1. The Black Goat
The most prominent symbol in the painting is the black goat, long associated with the Devil in European folklore. This horned figure, sometimes referred to as “El Gran Cabrón” (The Great He-Goat), is not portrayed as an all-powerful, seductive Satan, but rather a grotesque and somewhat pitiable creature, almost a parody of evil. His eyes are wide, filled with a mixture of cunning and fear.
Goya may be intentionally ridiculing the very idea of the Devil here, suggesting that the concept is a creation of hysteria and ignorance rather than a real spiritual force.
2. The Witches
The depiction of the witches is deliberately unflattering. They are old, frail, ugly, and cartoonish. This grotesque caricature stands in stark contrast to the romantic or seductive portrayals of witches in other artworks of the time. Goya presents them as pathetic victims of their own delusions or as tools of manipulation by more powerful figures (be they religious, political, or supernatural).
There’s a clear critique here of how society demonized women, especially older, poor, or marginalized women, as witches. Their worship of the goat becomes a metaphor for misguided belief systems rooted in fear, ignorance, and social desperation.
3. The Children
Perhaps the most disturbing element of the painting is the presence of children, some of them lifeless, others presented as sacrifices. This element ties the scene to popular legends of witches consuming children or offering them to Satan. For Goya, this may symbolize the sacrifice of innocence on the altar of ignorance and fanaticism. It’s also a scathing allegory of how institutions, whether religious or political, can corrupt and destroy the innocent in the name of dogma.
4. The Darkness
The entire canvas is swallowed in darkness. Goya uses light sparingly, mostly to highlight faces and gestures, creating a chiaroscuro effect that draws the viewer’s eye into the unnatural glow of the figures. This darkness is not merely environmental, it symbolizes a spiritual and intellectual blindness that pervaded society.
The Cultural and Historical Context
To fully understand Witches’ Sabbath, one must grasp the Spain of Goya’s time. The late 18th century was a period of violent contrast. Enlightenment ideals were trickling into Spain, but so too were the oppressive traditions of the Catholic Church and the Inquisition. Superstitions still gripped the populace, and stories of witchcraft were common.
The Spanish Inquisition, though in decline, was still active and had long used accusations of witchcraft as a way to control and instill fear. Goya saw these forces firsthand and grew increasingly skeptical and disillusioned as he matured.
He was a court painter, but he became increasingly radical in his private works. Witches’ Sabbath is one of his earlier forays into using art as social critique. By portraying these rituals with such grotesque absurdity, he was not just documenting folklore, he was condemning the power structures that perpetuated them.
The Artistic Style of Witches’ Sabbath
Witches’ Sabbath is often classified under Romanticism, but Goya defies easy categorization. His work blends Baroque drama, Rococo detail, Romantic emotion, and even proto-Expressionist sensibilities. He often painted on the edge of madness, and his work speaks to inner torment and psychological complexity in a way that predates much of modern art.
In this painting, we see dramatic contrasts of light and shadow, theatrical postures, and heightened emotionality. There’s also an almost surreal quality to the figures, especially the goat, which foreshadows the Symbolist and Surrealist movements of the 20th century.
Goya was not just painting what he saw, he was painting what he feared, loathed, and needed to exorcise from his own psyche.
Where Is Witches’ Sabbath Painting Located Today?
The version of Witches’ Sabbath painted in 1789 is housed in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid, Spain. This version was part of the Osuna series commissioned by the Duchess of Osuna, who had a fascination with the occult and a patronage for Goya’s darker works.
There is also another version, often referred to as El Gran Cabrón, created around 1821–1823, during Goya’s later years as part of the infamous Black Paintings series. This version is even darker and more psychologically intense. It was painted directly on the walls of Goya’s home, the Quinta del Sordo (“House of the Deaf Man”), and later transferred to canvas. It now resides in the Museo del Prado, also in Madrid.
Both versions reflect different moments in Goya’s artistic and psychological development: the earlier version is satirical and public, while the later one is deeply personal and tortured.
Why Does Witches’ Sabbath Still Matter?
Goya’s Witches’ Sabbath remains relevant because it captures a universal human flaw, the tendency to surrender to fear and superstition. It illustrates how hysteria can be weaponized, how society can vilify the outsider, and how institutions can perpetuate cycles of ignorance and cruelty.
More than just a horror scene, it is a bold statement against tyranny, spiritual, social, and political. Goya’s use of witchcraft as a metaphor allows him to critique systems of control without direct confrontation, embedding his dissent in disturbing allegory.
For modern audiences, the painting still resonates as a depiction of the perils of irrationalism, groupthink, and the dehumanization of those deemed “other.” It is a call to confront our collective shadows.
Francisco Goya’s Witches’ Sabbath is one of the most compelling anti-superstition artworks in Western art history. Through grotesque figures, a mocking Devil, and a twisted parody of ritual, Goya critiques the madness of his time, and perhaps ours as well.
It is a masterwork of horror, but also of reason. A dark mirror that reflects what happens when humanity abandons truth for delusion, and reason for fear. In every brushstroke, Goya warns us: beware the darkness, for it is not always born of night, but of ignorance.
And as you stare into the haunted faces of the witches, and the eerie gaze of the horned goat, you begin to realize, it’s not them you’re meant to fear, but the world that made them necessary.
