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Museo del Prado

The exterior of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, with its large statue of Francisco de Goya outside.

The gothic moods of Francisco de Goya’s Black Paintings

Posted on 18 July 202415 August 2024 by The Gothic Dispatch

There aren’t many people who could withdraw to a remote farmhouse, paint horrifying scenes on the walls and be hailed for their genius. Francisco de Goya was one of them. I am not.

Greetings from the Museo del Prado, one of the world’s most prestigious art museums and home of the 14 Black Paintings of Francisco de Goya. Discover some of the darkest work of Goya’s life and the tragedies that inspired it. Lose yourself in scenes of witchcraft and violence, gothic moods of which he was a master. And do your best to keep the work out of sight – just as the artist intended.

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Welcome to the Gothic Dispatch, the strangest blog in this world or the next.

Join me as I pursue the particulars of Gothic art, literature and travel. Expect extraordinary sights, unusual recommendations and plenty of narrow escapes. And experience the restlessness, excess and otherness of the Gothic without the toll on your immortal soul.

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