Do you feel that? It's the spooky season, it's among us now. You best bet your witchy hats that during this month's Art Column we're going to blow your brooms away! Now put your potions away and pour yourself some butterbeer because it's time to talk about some dark arts. No, not that kind of dart arts. Although, I wouldn't mind if anyone wanted to show us their Dark Mark. Just don't summon the Dark Lord, please. He's a little busy at the moment and we all know he gets a little cranky when we summon him out of the blue.
I was going to show you all some famous witch paintings but some of them are portrayed too dark. Many well-recognized witch paintings are based on real events. However, it's important to note that they're all created from the perception of Muggles. We all know Muggles tend to exaggerate things when it comes to magic or magical beings. If you've paid any attention at all during your classes you'll recall that wizarding laws have changed in the past hundred years. Thus, we've gone from broadcasting our abilities to living among Muggles in peace. Well, about a hundred years ago or more--when laws for our kind were looser--we magical folk lived differently. So much so that many famous artists created some of their most recognized works based on what they saw or what they thought they saw.
I mean, let's take a look at Francisco Goya's Witches' Sabbath. This piece was created in Madrid, Spain during the time of the Romanticism movement in 1798. This beauty is shown today in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid. If you've seen this piece before, then you already know how dark it is portrayed. I'm here to set the record straight. The story of how this "dark" piece of art was created is actually quite funny. You see, back in 1798 in the same town where Goya created his painting lived several wizarding families. There was the Santiago, Hernández, Rosado, Torres, Colón, and Zayas family among others. They were all neighbors and of course close friends.
It's common in Spanish culture to gather on a very frequent basis with close friends and family. Every night, after sun-set, the families would gather up in the mountains. Their gatherings wouldn't necessarily consist of a specific celebration. They simply gathered after the sun had set because that was when the town had gone to sleep and it was much easier to get away with doing magic when no one was watching. That didn't stop them from doing magic during daylight of course.
Our artist, Goya, decided one night he wanted to paint the crescent moon and the way it captured the surrounding land. He packed his supplies and managed to find the perfect spot. Goya began painting the sky first, he knew that portraying the mountains would take more time and he could always come back in the morning to capture them right.
In the distance, he began to hear a cry. Seeing as he thought he was alone, he followed it. Some say that Goya thought he heard the cry of children. Which would make sense since on his oil painting that's what he portrayed. According to the story, Goya claimed he saw witches gathered around a dark figure that he swore was demonic to which these witches were offering their children to. Let me make one thing clear, this was and still remains false. So, what is the truth? Ah, we're almost there!
If you look closely at the painting, in the center of the group is a figure that resembles a large dark goat. This figure was surrounded by the magical folk who appeared to be offering off their children. Let me take this opportunity to clear the air of the lies we've been told.
That night, was actually the night that the families had set out to gather some magical supplies they had planted. It's important to note that they had picked this spot to also grow some magical herbs among other things. So, when the wizarding families gathered together that night they were pulling some Mandrakes. If you've seen a Mandrake before, then you know it kind of looks like a tiny person. Which would be easy for any non-magical being to confuse from a distance in the night. These Spanish families were not "summoning" or "offering" up anything. They were gathering supplies for their shops back in the town.
As for the goat figure, you can easily guess what had happened. Yes, it was the Animagus form of Ricardo Torres. He was the eldest son of the Torres family. Ricardo was showing off his Animagus form to everyone. He had gone through the process of becoming one on a dare from his best friend, Diego Zayas. His friend didn't think he could do it since it was a very uncommon and almost unheard of process in Spain. So, when Ricardo Torres turned into a goat not only did the Mandrakes scream but so did a few of the family members. There was also laughter but Ricardo's mother didn't think it was that funny.
This brings us back to our painter Goya who was seeing all of this unfold. What was a combination of human screams and mandrake screams brought him to witness something that would have been confusing for any Muggle. Needless to say, the poor soul fainted when he got close enough behind the trees. When he woke up the next morning, he was home in his bed. It was almost as if the events of the night before had not occurred. Ricardo Torres and Diego Zayas' mothers told them that they had to "clean up" the mess. The boys carried the painter home and tried to make it seem as if it had all been a dream. But Goya knew what he had seen and had to tell the world. This brought him to create his famous work the Witches' Sabbath.
Not everything is what it seems, especially during the spooky season. Some events are exaggerated to attract more view from the public while in other cases it's just a Muggle getting the details wrong.
Well, it seems I'm out of butterbeer for today but I'll be sure to bring something tasty next time when you come down and join me for the Art Column. Although, really this section should be called "debunking muggle art" but of course we can't. I hoped you've learned something here today and are able to spread the truth during your next art class. This is Camila signing off.