An "Enlightened" View of Witches. Melancholy and Delusionary Experience in Goya's »Spell«

• Autores: Guy Tal
• Localización: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, ISSN 0044-2992, Vol. 75, Nº. 1, 2012, págs. 33-50
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses the 1797-1798 painting "The Spell" by Spanish painter Francisco Goya, a part of a six-piece series on the subject of witchcraft, magic, and sorcery. Seeking to situate the painting within broader societal discourses about the reality of witches, about superstition, and about human psychology during the era of the Enlightenment, the author conducts a semiotic analysis of the representation of melancholy and delusion through the body language and gestures of the figures depicted in the painting.