Follower of Francisco de Goya; 19th century.

Follower of FRANCISCO DE GOYA (Zaragoza, 1746 - Bordeaux, 1828); XIX century.
"Warlocks".
Drawing in sanguine on paper.
Framed in museum glass.
Measurements: 28 x 20 cm (sheet); 41 x 33 cm (frame).
This drawing shows the Spanish artistic tradition of the 19th century deeply marked by the influence of the Aragonese master. Made in sanguine on paper, the work presents a group of grotesque figures gathered in an intimate and almost conspiratorial scene, evoking the dark, satirical and superstitious universe that Goya developed in numerous graphic works, the composition shows several hunched and deformed figures, some covered with cloaks or hoods, who seem to whisper or conspire with each other. The caricatured treatment of the faces is directly reminiscent of the visual language Goya employed in series such as Los Caprichos (1799) or Los Disparates, where he explored themes of superstition, ignorance and social criticism through fantastic and witch-like figures. In these images, witches not only represent the supernatural, but also irrationality and human vices.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Goya frequently addressed the theme of witchcraft and popular superstition, very present in the Spanish culture of the time. These images had a double reading: on the one hand, they evoked the folkloric imaginary; on the other hand, they functioned as an enlightened criticism against credulity and social backwardness. The drawing analyzed here continues this iconographic tradition, showing an interest in the grotesque and the marginal as a means of moral reflection.