Witches' Sabbath (Goya, 1798) feature of Romanticism, and is to be found for example in Weber's opera "Der Freischütz". However, in a Spanish context, Goya's paintings have been seen as a protest against those who upheld and enforced the values of the Spanish Inquisition, which had been active in Witch hunting during the seventeenth-century Basque witch trials. The later "Witches Sabbath" was painted as a bitter struggle raged between liberals and those in favour of a church and a royalist-lead state, which culminated in the so-called Ominous Decade (1823-1833). Both paintings can be seen as an attack on the superstitious beliefs rife in Spain
The Duchess of Alba and la Beata she recoils and leans backwards, her eyes rolled in mock horror, her mouth curled in delight. Velazquez props herself up with a walking stick or cane, and bears a wooden cross in her extended right hand, playfully banishing the Duchess. Both figures wear white dresses; the duchess with black lace and bodice. The painting is composed of mainly white and black hues applied in broad brush strokes, while the dresses are outlined in touches of livid yellow. The figures are set against a flat, black background which isolates the moment and removes any context. "The Duchess of Alba and la