The Inquisition Tribunal
Encyclopedia
The Inquisition Tribunal or The Inquisition Auto de fe (Spanish: Auto de fe de la Inquisición) is an oil-on-panel painting produced by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya
between 1812 and 1819. It shows an Auto de fe, or accusation of heretics, by the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition
, being held inside a church. The accused sit in chains and pointed hats in front of a large audience. The work was owned by Manuel García de la Prada and is now in the collection of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
in Madrid.
The painting belongs to a series which also includes The Bullfight, The Madhouse
and A Procession of Flagellants
, all showing some of the most terrible aspects of 19th-century Spanish life and reflecting customs which liberals (of whom Goya was then one) wished to reform but whose reform was opposed by the absolutist policy of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Each painting in the series is marked by an instance of cruelty, here the threat of being burned at the stake, symbolised by the pointed hats worn by the accused. Every figure in the foreground is in the light, individualised and well-characterised, whereas the background is occupied by an anonymous mass of people shut in by darkness and a claustrophobic Gothic architecture.
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
between 1812 and 1819. It shows an Auto de fe, or accusation of heretics, by the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
, being held inside a church. The accused sit in chains and pointed hats in front of a large audience. The work was owned by Manuel García de la Prada and is now in the collection of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando , located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery....
in Madrid.
The painting belongs to a series which also includes The Bullfight, The Madhouse
The Madhouse
The Madhouse or Asylum is an oil-on-panel painting by Francisco de Goya. He produced it between 1812 and 1819...
and A Procession of Flagellants
A Procession of Flagellants
A Procession of Flagellants is an oil-on-panel painting produced by Francisco de Goya between 1812 and 1819. In the foreground is a procession of Roman Catholic men dressed in white, wearing pointed hats and whipping their bared backs in penitence...
, all showing some of the most terrible aspects of 19th-century Spanish life and reflecting customs which liberals (of whom Goya was then one) wished to reform but whose reform was opposed by the absolutist policy of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Each painting in the series is marked by an instance of cruelty, here the threat of being burned at the stake, symbolised by the pointed hats worn by the accused. Every figure in the foreground is in the light, individualised and well-characterised, whereas the background is occupied by an anonymous mass of people shut in by darkness and a claustrophobic Gothic architecture.