Did You Know... Spain has a lot to do with the perceptions and fears that continue today about witches and their crafts?

 Yes, indeed it is true!

In 1610, the infamous "Quema de brujas en Logroño" (Burning of the Witches in Logroño) witch trials took place, and a local printer, Juan de Mongastón, published a pamphlet chronicling the events. This document detailed the trial and condemnation of 53 people accused of witchcraft, along with five skeletons and five effigies, creating a vivid picture of witchcraft and its supposed dangers.

The pamphlet described witches engaging in terrifying rituals, gathering at secret Sabbaths, summoning demons, and brewing magical potions—all elements that have heavily influenced the way witches are perceived today. It also introduced the idea of witches flying, which contributed to the now iconic image of witches on broomsticks, a symbol we associate with them even centuries later.

This account of the Logroño trials helped spread the fear of witchcraft throughout Spain and beyond, reinforcing beliefs about the supernatural and the devil’s involvement in such practices. The pamphlet's descriptions of nocturnal gatherings, pacts with Satan, and women as the primary participants in witchcraft became a lasting foundation for the witch iconography that still shapes modern perceptions. Whether it’s Halloween costumes, folklore, or popular culture, many of today’s stereotypes about witches—such as their association with evil spells, cauldrons, and flight—can be traced back to these early 17th-century events in Spain.

The "Quema de brujas en Logroño" trials and their subsequent publication were crucial in spreading and solidifying these fearsome images, linking them forever to the figure of the witch.

Don't forget that, as a special talk before Halloween, I will be exploring the darkest of Francisco Goya’s artworks. 

These pieces delve into themes like witches, war, fires, shipwrecks, cannibalism, murder, madness, and ghosts. Goya and his elite clientele were appalled by how superstitions and the Catholic Inquisition exerted mind control over the peasant population, though these themes always challenged Goya’s imagination. 

In an era before television and the internet, Goya's captivating paintings would spark endless debates and conversations.

Join me to uncover the chilling depths of Goya’s dark world!

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GOYA * Monday 28 @ 5pm

REGISTER NOW!! Dive into the dark and unsettling world of Francisco Goya, where art doesn't just replicate reality—it provokes, terrifies, and mocks the superstitions of society. 

In a special Halloween talk by art historian Karla Ingleton Darocas, explore Goya’s most haunting works, images that challenge reason and leave you shaken. 

Prepare to be intoxicated by some of the most terrifying and thought-provoking pieces in Western art history. 

Don't miss it!  

REVIEWS

"I knew that Romanticism was not as romantic as we know it today. I knew it more as 'melancholic'. But Goya's Sublime went a step further. His strikingly emotional paintings of his time are depictions of the horrors in life - fires, ship wreaks, kidnappings, bandits, asylums, prisons, death, etc.

I can understand that his imagination took over when he painted what he read in the newspapers. I admit that these paintings are not exactly easy to look at, but the lecture helped me to understand the man and the painter better 

Karla allows us to see more than just a painting. I highly recommend Karla Darocas's classes."

 * jo jouas, denia

**"

"I learned how much I really didn't know! Goya, the last of the old Masters and introducer of the moderns. A private man with emotional and health battles culminating in his deafness which introduced an era of his art which showed his despair and bleakness of the world surrounding him whilst at the same time giving a glimmer of the hope waiting patiently in the shadows. Karla brings these artists to life with emotional tales that make you both weep and laugh as you live your life with them. I love the originality and fervour in the teaching style of Karla Darocas. I would recommend Karla to others, and I do!"

 * Sue Martin, Pedreguer

JÁVEA WALK

Explore and Learn About JÁVEA by visiting its historical architecture and monuments with Arts Historian, Educator & Author 

- Karla Ingleton Darocas, B. A. (Hons) 

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THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF GOYA'S MISSING SKULL

THE ENIGMA

Dionisio Fierros (1827-1894) was a Spanish Romantic painter who painted a “Vanitas”, an allegorical still life, for the Marquis of San Adrián of Navarre in 1849. 

It was not a very robust work of art, especially in an era of great romanticism and drama. 

It was a traditional "vanitas" with a skull, which was the most common symbol of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. It was a human skull, depicted in a three-quarter view, and it had no jaw. It rested on a green carpet. The skull had many dental defects. The colour used was a roasted yellow. 

It would have been a rather boring 44 x 37 cm oil painting on canvas if it had not had three words written in sepia ink on the back of the wooden frame: "Skull of Goya".

Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas (KarlaDarocas.com) (c) SpainLifestyle.com

GOYA KNEW THE SECRET TO THE WITCHES FLIGHT

Since Halloween and the Day of the Dead are very close to each other, who better to take up the theme of witches' flight than Francisco Goya. Traditionally, witches were believed to use a broom to move through the air and assist the coven in places far from their usual haunts. 

The women accused of witchcraft were women who took care of the home: wives, midwives, servants, etc. And what do these people have in common? A broom! It stands to reason that the broom was a representation of women and thus became the witches' tool. 

Goya, who knew the aspects of witchcraft well, captured the moment when an old witch initiates a young woman into these practises. But he also knew that it was not the broom that gave the witches their flying abilities. 

* Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas. Hons. B. A.  (KarlaDarocas.com)

The Conquest of Huesca" by Ulpiano Checa

This painting is quite large; unfortunately, I couldn't ascertain its exact dimensions. However, it proudly hangs high above the central courtyard of the Museum in Siguenza. You can view it directly from the second-floor gallery.

It depicts the Battle of Alcoraz, an armed encounter that took place on November 15, 1096, near Huesca, involving Aragonese and Pamplona troops on one side and Muslim troops from Zaragoza supported by Castilian forces on the other.

Museum of Antique Religious Art of Sigüenza-Guadalajara’s Diocese

The Museum of Antique Religious Art of Sigüenza-Guadalajara’s Diocese is located in a 16th-century neoclassical small palace known as "The Barrena's Old House," which belonged to the Gamboa family for four hundred years until 1923. (In the last century, it served as a hotel, a neighbor's house, and a branch of a bank.) 

Don Lorenzo Bericiartúa Valerdi, while serving as bishop of this diocese, purchased the building in 1956 with the intention of converting it into the Diocese's Museum. However, it was his successor, Don Laureano Castán Lacoma, supported by the nuncio Luigi Dadaglio, who officially inaugurated it on May 11th, 1968. Initially, the exhibition only occupied the ground floor of the building, but in 1972, it was extended to include the first floor. Currently, the museum occupies the entire building.

THE MAJESTIC 'VIRGIN OF THE CARTHUSIANS' BY FRANCISCO DE ZURBARÁN

I had to sit down to take in the full size of this huge painting of the Virgin of the Carthusians or the Virgin of the Caves or the Virgin of Mercy, 1655, by Francisco de Zurbarán, as it measures approximately 217 x 161 centimeters (or about 85.4 x 63.4 inches) in size.

ZURBARÁN'S FEMALE SAINTS: AWE-INSPIRING MASTERPIECES

I finally got to meet these beautiful ladies of Francisco de Zurbarán up close. It was amazing to get the opportunity to really appreciate the intricacies of these masterpieces. The meticulous rendering of fabrics decorated with intricate patterns and textures adds to the overall richness of the compositions and demonstrates Zurbarán's exceptional ability to capture minute details and textures.