Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de – El aquelarre, o El Gran Cabrón Part 2 Prado Museum

Description of Francisco de Goya’s "Coven"

The work of the great and eminent genius was not originally a painting in the usual sense, but a mural that adorned one of the walls in the artist’s home. It was transferred to canvas almost half a century after its creation by the hand of Salvador Cubells.

The masterpiece is part of the cycle of "Gloomy paintings" dedicated to dark, mystical and frightening images. And indeed the impression of the canvas is very bright. He can not understand and do not like it, but remain indifferent rather difficult. The work is painted with the scope - 4 meters 38 cm in width and 1 meter 40 cm in height. Guests visiting the artist’s abode were sometimes discouraged and struck to the core by a series of demonic motifs.

The main and prominent image is the black goat, which undoubtedly represents the devil himself. The protagonist is endowed with human features. He is dressed in a dark robe, his eyes are turned to the crowd gathered around him, he obviously says something and gestures. This humanization makes the image even more sinister; it does not appear ephemeral, but very real. It is truly frightening, for there is nothing scarier than the enslaved human mind.

The crowd approaching the devil is nothing less than a gathering of witches, that very coven. The witches are depicted with ugly distorted faces, in bent postures of adoration and submission. Their eyes are greedily fixed on Satan; they catch every word and movement.

The canvas is painted using dark, gloomy tones. This technique achieves a heavy, oppressive, almost suffocating atmosphere. It is not surprising that society at the time could not appreciate the work on its own merits. It was unacceptable and wild.

Critics say that Goya was characterized by his use of metaphors and symbols. Connoisseurs of the history and culture of Spain at the time argue that the painting is a vivid satire on the inertness of views and the absurdity of society.