Francisco de Goya, 'A Scene from 'The Forcibly Bewitched'', 1798

Goya shows us a scene based on a satirical play first performed in 1698: The Forcibly Bewitched by Antonio de Zamora (1660–1727). The reluctant priest Don Claudio is being frightened into marriage with Doña Leonora. He’s been made to believe that a slave, Lucia, has bewitched him, and that his life will last only as long as the lamp in her room remains alight. Blacks and greys dominate the painting, and contrast with the flash of orange of the candle flame.

We see the deluded and terrified Claudio eagerly replenishing the oil in the lamp, which is in the form of an almost life-size ram. The inscription in the bottom right contains the first part of two words, lampara descomunal (‘monstrous lamp’) – the words that the fearful and superstitious Claudio cries out loud while pouring the oil.

A grotesque painting of dancing donkeys decorates the wall behind, adding to the general air of mystery and sorcery. But the play is a comedy, and the hero’s exaggerated pose and staring eyes are intended to make us laugh at his gullibility.

Goya’s late works often explored satirical themes, reflecting his view of an unstable and flawed society. In this painting Goya may be protesting against the Spanish Inquisition, which promoted the Catholic faith and persecuted Jews and Muslims, for here he makes fun of folklore and the Church-led return to medieval fears.

The painting was a private commission, one of six scenes of witchcraft and sorcery painted for the Duke and Duchess of Osuna in 1798 and exhibited together at the Royal Academy in Madrid the following year. The Osunas were Goya’s most loyal patrons between 1785 and 1799. Their palace in Madrid and country house on the outskirts of the city served as meeting places for artists, actors and musicians, and Goya probably attended the private theatre the couple owned. The Duchess was a keen reformer of Spanish society, critical of the Church’s corruption and the superstition of people who still believed in witchcraft.