# A Procession of Flagellants [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de]() - Date: 1801-1850 - Technique: Oil on panel, 46 x 73 cm ## Commentary The participation of flagellants in Holy Week processions in Spain was banned in 1777 but evidently not effectively since the ban was published again in 1779 and 1802. Goya's known hatred of fanaticism, explicit in many later drawings and engravings, suggests that his choice of subject was intended as an indictment of this form of public penance. So does his manner of recording the scene. The holy image of the Virgin is silhouetted against the dark wall of the church and the blood-stained figures of the flagellants stand out from and dominate the procession. An Inquisition scene in the same series is similar in character. Both paintings combine realistic reportage with critical intent in a manner, often seeming to approach caricature, which is peculiar to Goya. Many years later he returned to the subject in a drawing entitled Holy Week in Spain in Times Past. ## Related artworks - [A Lunatic behind Bars]() - [A Pilgrimage to San Isidro \(detail\)]() - [A Pilgrimage to San Isidro \(detail\)]() - [A Pilgrimage to San Isidro]() - [A Prison Scene]() - [A Village Bullfight]() - [A Walk in Andalusia]() - [Allegory of the City of Madrid]() - [As far back as his grandfather]() - [Asmodea]() - [Atropos \(The Fates\)]() - [Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()