Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) There is no record of Goya's thoughts during this period. He completed the series during a period recuperating from illness, possibly lead poisoning, when he was in considerable mental and physical pain, and withdrew from public life. "Witches' Sabbath" is believed to be a rather bitter, but silent, protest against the royalists and clergy who had retaken control of Spain after the Peninsular War of 1807–14. Advocates of the Enlightenment had sought to redistribute land to the peasants, to educate women, publish a vernacular Bible and, by replacing superstition with reason, put an end to the Inquisition. Witch hunting, seen
Palacio de los duques de Alba Palacio de los duques de Alba Palacio de Los Duques de Alba is a palace in Piedrahita, province of Ávila, Spain. The palace served as a summer residence for the Dukes of Alba, and currently houses a school. Where once was a medieval castle belonging to the Álvarez de Toledo family, the French architect Jaime Marquet constructed a palace for Fernando de Silva, 12th Duke of Alba between 1755 and 1766. The duke used the palace as a summer residence. His granddaughter María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba invited to the palace famous visitors such as the painter