Francisco de Goya

Witches' den

Clasificación
Witches' den
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1810 - 1820
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
210 x 154 mm
Técnica y soporte
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
25 Aug 2021 / 20 Apr 2023
Inventario
D3960
Inscripciones

15 (in composite pencil, recto, lower left-hand corner)

45 (in composite pencil, recto, upper right-hand corner)

5 (in blue pencil, verso, upper part in the second support)

113 (in composite pencil, verso, upper right-hand side in the second support) 

Frame partially marked with brush

Historia

The drawing passed by inheritance in 1828 to Javier Goya, the painter's son, and in 1854 to Mariano Goya y Goicoechea, the artist's grandson. It was subsequently owned by Valentín Carderera (ca. 1861) and Mariano Carderera (ca. 1880). In 1886 it was acquired from Mariano Carderera by the General Direction of Public Instruction and was assigned to the Prado Museum, where it entered on 12 November 1886.

Análisis artístico

The den of the title is a kind of cave in which a perverse coven of witches and other demonic characters takes place. Among the swirl of naked bodies flutter black crows. Below, in the foreground, a large winged head takes part in the orgy next to the enormous buttocks of one of the witches in the centre of the scene. The witches have bald heads and grotesque faces, and their bony, angular limbs are reminiscent of the witches in some of Goya's sketchbook drawings, such as Singing and Dancing (D.3), These Witches Will Say It (C.69) and Nothing They Say (C.70). The theme of the gathering of witches is common in other series by Goya, such as the Caprichos, although the gouache technique and its combination with sanguine suggest that it dates from a later period, although a similar chronology cannot be completely ruled out. Pérez Sánchez thinks it could be a preparatory drawing for an unknown engraving.

Exposiciones
  • Goya e Italia
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    2008
    organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragóna, consultant editor Joan Sureda Pons. From June 1st to September 15th 2008
  • Europa 1789. Aufklärung, Verklärung, Verfall
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1989
Bibliografía
  • D'ACHIARDI, Pierre
    Roma D.Anderson: Editeur
    1908
    pp. il. CLXXXIV
  • MAYER, August L.
    BarcelonaLabor
    1925
    p. 231, n. 103
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN. Francisco Javier
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1954
    n. 214
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 296, cat. 1522
  • GASSIER, Pierre
    Dibujos de Goya, 2 vols
    BarcelonaNoguer
    1975
    p. 539, cat. 365
  • PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, Alfonso E.
    MadridEdiciones Alfiz
    1980
    s. p., cat. 36
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    p. 130
  • LUNA, Juan J.
    MadridFundación Goya en Aragón y Turner
    2008
    vol. 2, p. 315, cat. 298
Enlaces externos
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