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
Peter Toms (painter) Peter Toms (painter) Peter Toms RA (fl. 1748, died 1 January 1777) was an English painter, specialising in depicting drapery for the works of other artists. He was a foundation member of the Royal Academy. Toms was the son of an engraver, William Henry Toms, of Masham Street, Westminster. Apprenticed to the portraitist Thomas Hudson, he became a drapery-painter, and worked for Francis Cotes for several years. After Cotes' death, he was employed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West and John Zoffany amongst others. He also held the post of Port Culis Pursuivant. at the College of Heralds. According to