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Created with black ink and gray washes on cream-white paper, this drawing shows a person with a pig’s face sitting astride the shoulders of a person with goat’s legs, both looking at a book held open by two people wearing robes and tall, conical hats. The creature with goat's legs sits on the floor, legs stretched in front of it. It grips the ankles of the pig-headed person, who looks at the book with with palms raised to shoulder height and facing out. The robed people hold the book open with long pincers and look at the pair of imaginary creatures with their eyes and mouths wide open. On the cloth draping over the table, three faces are drawn side-by-side, also with wide-open eyes and mouths.  A skull rests on the floor near the lower left corner. The title is written in the center of the margin of the white paper under the image, “Brujas,” and to the right, in brown ink, “à bolar.”

Francisco Goya, Brujas à volar (Witches Preparing to Fly) [verso], 1796/1797, brush and black ink and gray wash on laid paper, Woodner Collection, 1991.182.10.b

The Art of Looking

Francisco de Goya, Brujas à volar (Witches Preparing to Fly)

The Art of Looking

  • Friday, October 29, 2021
  • 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • Talks Redirect
  • Virtual
  • Registration Required
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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and in the spirit of Halloween, Francisco de Goya's Brujas à volar (Witches Preparing to Fly) is the inspiration for this interactive conversation. Join us and share your observations, interpretations, questions, and ideas, and build on your own first impressions to broaden your understanding of this work of art. This session lasts one hour and is completely interactive. National Gallery educators will facilitate the conversation to create an environment for shared learning. These conversations will encourage you to engage deeply with art, with others, and with the world around you as you hone skills in visual literacy and perspective-taking.

This program is free and open to the public and is designed for anyone interested in talking about art. No art or art history background is required. Ages 18 and over.

Due to the interactive nature of this program, sessions are not recorded.

Live Captions

Live captions (CART) are available in some breakout rooms for this program. Please contact [email protected] to request access or for more information.