Devoted profession

A young, long-eared apprentice witch is mounted on the shoulders of a satyr sitting on his goat-like hindquarters on the ground. In front of her, standing tall, are two large-eared figures wearing mitered, sharply folded cloaks, who place a book before the apprentice and hold it in tongs. Below emerge two heads with closed eyes and half-open mouths. Both the young witch and the four figures taking part in this ceremony have a stern, concentrated attitude that speaks of the solemnity of this moment.

In the manuscript in the Prado Museum, the following is written about this engraving: "You swear to obey and respect your teachers and superiors? Do you sweep, spin cloth, play rattles, howl, howl, shout, fly, stew, smear, suck, cook, fry, every time you are commanded? I swear. Well, daughter, you are already a witch. Be in ora buena". This interpretation suggests that Goya has depicted the oath that a neophyte swears before her superiors, confirming her entry into the world of witchcraft.

The artist has used etching over almost the entire surface of the print to accurately depict the protagonists, as well as the somewhat nebulous atmosphere in which the scene is taking place, which he constructs with continuous, brief horizontal strokes.

However, as in other engravings in the series, Goya could also be suggesting another meaning for this image. It is possible to reach this conclusion by reading the interpretations provided by the manuscript in the Biblioteca Nacional and the Ayala manuscript, which allude to the speed with which some clerics were promoted in the Church. Thus the characters holding the book are dressed as prelates, one of whom wears a bat in the plume above his mitre. The tongs used to hold the book could be instruments of torture used by the Inquisition. In this engraving, Goya inverts a religious ceremony with demonic connotations, as the officiants are supported by a bird of prey with a serpent's tail, which is identified with heresy. The Aragonese artist makes a subtle, veiled comparison between the ceremonies held for those who wished to join the world of witchcraft and those held within the Church.