Sapiens Verbum

Three witches haul a naked body through the night air while a man below covers his ears - or tries not to hear the spell. Francisco de Goya's Witches' Flight (1797-1798) - Vuelo de Brujas - belongs to a set of witchcraft pictures in which superstition, fear, and satire share the same dark sky. Magic here is not costume glamour; it is a social nightmare with lift. Quick facts Artist: Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) Date: 1797-1798 Medium: Oil on canvas Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid Notable fact: Part of a group of six witchcraft-themed works; Goya mixes Enlightenment scorn with images that still feel sincerely terrifying Francisco de Goya, Witches' Flight (Vuelo de Brujas) , 1797-1798. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Enlightenment Light, Midnight Subject Late eighteenth-century Spain was full of arguments about reason and superstition. Goya paints witches who look absurd and dangerous at once. Pointed hats, ritual gestures, and a levitated victim could be mo...

Wide white eyes. A naked giant stuffs a limp, bloody torso into his mouth while his hands dig into the back like meat hooks. In Francisco de Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son (c. 1819-1823), myth is not politely retold. It is chewed in the dark. Quick facts Artist: Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) Date: c. 1819-1823 Medium: Oil mural transferred to canvas Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid Notable fact: One of the Black Paintings from Quinta del Sordo; moved to canvas in 1874 and now at the Prado Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son , c. 1819-1823. Oil mural transferred to canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid. From House Wall to Museum Horror The image began as a mural in Quinta del Sordo, the house Goya bought outside Madrid in 1819. Together with the other Black Paintings, it was transferred to canvas in 1874 and later entered the Prado. The private wall became public nightmare: thick paint, stark light, and a body that reads less like a child than an indistinct,...