Francisco Goya painted the Black Paintings late in his life after years of illness, deafness, war, political violence and personal isolation had left him deeply bitter and disturbed. Between 1819 and 1823, while living in a house outside Madrid called the Quinta del Sordo, he covered the walls with dark, terrifying images filled with madness, witches, violence and despair. Spain had been devastated by war and repression, and Goya seemed to lose faith in both humanity and reason. The paintings were never meant for the public. They feel more like private nightmares poured directly onto the walls by an old man confronting death, fear and the darker side of the human mind.

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