Witches’ Flight
1798
Francisco de Goya takes us on a bizarre midnight ride in this 1798 masterpiece, where two haggish witches with towering pointed hats soar through a pitch-black sky. They awkwardly cradle two naked men in their laps like oversized, helpless babies, while below, a terrified figure hides his face under a sheet and a donkey watches the chaos. This piece is part of Goya's famous witchcraft series, created as a satirical jab at the superstition and ignorance plaguing Spain at the time. It marks a thrilling shift from his polite court portraits into the dark, psychological territory that would eventually lead to his haunting 'Black Paintings'.
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