The Evolution And Significance Of The Image Of Witchcraft In Goya's Paintings

This paper mainly focuses on the study of the images of witchcraft in Goya's paintings,and analyzes and summarizes the changes of the images of witchcraft from Goya's early artistic creation to his black paintings in his later years.Goya was a famous Spanish painter of the 18 th and 19 th centuries,and in the early portion of his career Goya became a court painter to the Spanish Crown,which is marked by portraits of the Spanish aristocracy and royalty.Gradually,his work became progressively darker and pessimistic.His later easel and mural paintings,prints and drawings appear to reflect a bleak outlook on personal,social and political levels.Influenced by the enlightenment thoughts at that time,Goya was deeply aware that everything could have two sides.He actively,keenly and persistently observed the real life and transformed it into a verifiable historical trace with the power of art,instead of just regarding art as a tool for decoration or showing off.The witchcraft theme had always been favored by Goya.The witchcraft images in his paintings can usually be seen in three parts: first,the Duke Osuna customized a series of works;the second is the recurring theme of witchcraft in Goya's manuscripts and prints.The most mysterious image of witchcraft,however,is the black paintings in the old age of Goya.At present,most of the studies on Goya's witchcraft paintings in the academic circle focus on scattered or fault exploration,either focusing on the black painting series,or focusing on the description of the artist's life and deeds,or classifying and analyzing a certain phenomenon in Goya's works,such as grotesque images,and regarding the witchcraft images as one of the aspects.As for Goya's black painting series in his later years,the academic circle has a particularly strong controversy.Some scholars even believe that this change is due to the lack of logical connection of its internal development,and subsequently think that this series of works may be produced by others.This paper attempts to focus on the evolution process of witchcraft images in Goya's art,especially the description of the differences between the early and late witchcraft images,and analyzes the break phenomenon in the continuity process,in an attempt to finally explore and explain the possible internal logic of the development and change of individual artists' artistic images.This logic relationship is implicit,but still exists.In view of that background of the author's background,the chapter two of this paper is to begin with the background of the painter,his life experience and the time environment,the development of the concept of witchcraft in the western world,and the history of witchcraft before Goya.Chapter three respectively explain the early and late images of witchcraft in Goya's paintings and compare them to illustrate the evolution process of Goya's witchcraft paintings.In particular,Goya's later period focused on the theme of witchcraft in the black art series,which is one of the most mysterious and elusive parts of Goya's work.Goya's painting style in this period has indeed undergone a significant transformation,but through comparative analysis,this paper attempts to illustrate some old theories and draw some new clues,revealing the inevitability in the development process of Goya's art from the aspects of the energy conservation of the artist's subject spiritual world,the conflict and balance between the individual and the world,and the existence of art as a saving power.The fourth chapter,from the perspective of new historicism,discusses the social energy and practical significance of goya's use of witchcraft images.