Travel Arrangements


It’s always interesting to see how artists depict witches in flight. Are they astride the broom or side-saddle? Is the business end fore or aft? This Goya etching, “Pretty Teacher!” (1797–1799), is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

A one-off magazine about witches that I picked up last October (Witches: The Truth Behind the Legends & Lore) had this to say about Goya’s many witch subjects: “Goya’s paintings were actually his protest against how the church had led Spanish society into a mire of superstition and ignorance.” Okay!

The Rijksmuseum counts among its holdings many illustrations of witches at work, play, and en route to mayhem. Here’s a wonderful detail from “Hexensabbat” (1603–1612), attributed to Jacob de Gheyn.



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