''Witches' Flight'' ( es, Vuelo de Brujas, also known as ''Witches in Flight'' or ''Witches in the Air'') is an oil on canvas painting completed in 1798 by the Spanish painter
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
. It was part of a series of six paintings related to
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
acquired by the
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Duchess of Osuna in 1798.
It has been described as "the most beautiful and powerful of Goya's Osuna witch paintings."
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The painting was sold to the Duke and Duchess of Osuna on 27 June 1798, to decorate their villa
La Alameda, on the outskirts of Madrid. It was then sold in 1896 at the public auction of the Osuna estate to Ramón Ibarra, and again in 1985 to
Jaime Ortiz Patiño. Finally, it was acquired by the
Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...
in 1999, where it remains to this day.
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At center point are three semi-nude witches wearing penitential ''
coroza''
bearing aloft a writhing nude figure, their mouths close to their victim, as if to
devour him or
suck his blood.
Below, two figures in peasants' garb recoil from the spectacle: one has thrown himself to the ground covering his ears, the other attempts to escape by covering himself with a blanket, making the
''fig'' hand gesture to
ward off the
evil eye
The Evil Eye ( grc, ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος; grc-koi, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός; el, (κακό) μάτι; he, עַיִן הָרָע, ; Romanian: ''Deochi''; it, malocchio; es, mal de ojo; pt, mau-olhado, olho gordo; ar ...
. Finally, a donkey emerges on the right, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the scene.
The general scholarly consensus is that the painting represents a rationalist critique of superstition and ignorance, particularly in religious matters: the witches' ''
corozas'' are not only emblematic of the violence of the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
(the upward flames indicate that they have been condemned as unrepentant heretics and will be burned at the stake),
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but are also reminiscent of episcopal
mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
s, bearing the characteristic double points. The accusations of religious tribunals are thus reflected back on themselves, whose actions are implicitly equated with superstition and ritualized sacrifice.
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The bystanders can then be understood either as appalled but unable to do anything or willfully ignorant and unwilling to intervene.
The donkey, finally, is the traditional symbol of ignorance.
See also
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List of works by Francisco Goya
The following is an incomplete list of works by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya.
Paintings (1763–1774)
Paintings (1775–1792)
''see also: List of Francisco Goya's tapestry cartoons''
Paintings (1793–1807)
Paintings (1 ...
Notes
References
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External links
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{{Goya
Witches in art
Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado
Donkeys in art
Nude art