Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat)

This painting is called 'Witches' Sabbath' or 'The Great He-Goat.' It shows a dark, moonlit night where a group of old witches are gathered. In the middle, a HUGE, shadowy goat with big horns stands over them. The witches look scared and are huddled together. The artist, Francisco de Goya, painted this a long, long time ago. It's like a spooky story told with paint!

Francisco de Goya painted this picture on the wall of his own house, which was called the Quinta del Sordo. He painted it on the plaster walls, like a secret mural! He was about 75 years old, which is super old, and wasn't feeling very well. He didn't tell anyone what the paintings meant, so we have to guess! It’s like he was painting his own scary dreams.

Some people think Goya painted this to make fun of people who believed in superstitions and witches. Back then, people were sometimes scared of witches and put them on trial. Goya might have been saying that believing in silly things can be scary, like monsters coming out when you're not paying attention. It's a way to show that fear can make people do strange things.

This painting used to be much, much wider! When Goya painted it on his wall, it stretched out a lot. But later, about 50 years after he passed away, people carefully moved the painting from the wall to a canvas. When they did this, they had to cut off a big piece from the right side, about as wide as a small car! So, the painting we see today is not exactly how Goya first made it.