The Bewitched Man (The Devil's Lamp)

Francisco Goya

Oil on canvas

National Gallery, London

The Bewitched Man, also known as The Devil's Lamp, is a small but remarkably atmospheric oil on canvas in which Goya depicts a scene from Antonio de Zamora's satirical play El hechizado por fuerza (The Man Bewitched by Force). The terrified protagonist, Don Claudio, is shown frantically replenishing the oil in a lamp mounted on a grotesque ram-like figure, convinced that if the flame dies, so will he — while a painting of dancing donkeys on the wall behind amplifies the mood of absurdity and sorcery. Painted around 1798 as one of a series of six witchcraft-themed works commissioned by the Duke and Duchess of Osuna — Goya's most loyal patrons of that period — the picture balances biting social satire with theatrical drama, using stark chiaroscuro to heighten the scene's unsettling comedy. The work exemplifies Goya's transition toward the darker, more critical imagery that would come to define his mature and late career, reflecting Enlightenment-era skepticism toward superstition and the credulity it exploits.