Witches in Art: From Goya to Sabrina

The depiction of witches in art and media spans centuries, evolving from grotesque figures to seductive characters. Francisco Goya's 'Los Caprichos' (1799) and 'The Sabbath of Witches' (1797–1798) at the Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid exemplify early dark portrayals. Henry Fuseli's 'The Night-Hag Visiting Lapland Witches' (1796) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York continues the supernatural theme. Hans Baldung Grien's 'The Witches' (1510), also at the Met, merges religious and erotic elements. John Raphael Smith's engraving 'The Weird Sisters' (1785) and John Runciman's 'The Three Witches' (ca. 1767–1768) at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh draw from Shakespeare's Macbeth. In modern media, witches appear in shows like 'Hocus Pocus', 'Bewitched', 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch', 'Charmed', 'Supernatural', 'American Horror Story', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Angel', 'Salem', 'Vampire Diaries', and 'The Originals'. Netflix's 2018 series 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' features the Weird Sisters as eerie yet beautiful students. The fascination with witches persists, especially during Halloween and Samhain.