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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThis etching depicts an older, hag-like figure flying through the air on a broomstick, supporting a younger, unclothed woman who clings to her back. An owl soars nearby, watching the pair as they navigate the desolate landscape below. The image uses sharp contrast and textured shadows to evoke a sense of nocturnal mystery and the uncanny.
The work reflects the Enlightenment-era shift in representing witchcraft, moving from the literal theological fear of the early modern period toward an exploration of psychological darkness and the irrational. It engages with the long-standing European folkloric and occult tradition of the witches' flight and the transmission of arcane knowledge from elder to initiate.
68. Goya Linda maestra!
Translation
68. Goya Pretty teacher!
Malleus Maleficarum
Goya's print engages with the established demonological tropes of nocturnal flight and the apprentice witch, which were codified in texts such as the Malleus.
Object
Etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint
allegory
Digital Source
Unknown · Public domain
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 15, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.