The Duchess of Alba and la Beata The Duchess of Alba and la Beata The Duchess of Alba and "la Beata" (or The Duchess of Alba and the Pious Woman; Spanish: La duquesa de Alba y su dueña o La Duquesa de Alba y "la Beata") is a small 1795 oil on canvas painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It portrays the Duchess María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba reaching playfully towards her maid (or "duena") Rafaela Luisa Velazquez (known as "la Beata"), who leans away. María holds a red cord under the chin of the older woman, which seems to scare her as
Witches' Sabbath to Sunday, or to a time period similar to Sabbath in the seventh-day church minority. In connection with the medieval beliefs in the evil power of witches and in the malevolence of Jews and Judaizing heretics (both being Sabbathkeepers), satanic gatherings of witches were by outsiders called "sabbats", "synagogues", or "convents". Local variations of the name given to witches' gatherings were frequent. Perhaps the earliest work that mentions a something like a gathering that might be interpreted, from the Christian point of view, as witches sabbath is"Canon Episcopi" (906) and later included in Burchard of Worms's collection in the 11th