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
Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) and "Judith and Holofernes". "Leocadia", "Two Old Men" and "Two Old Men Eating Soup" were on the left wall. Art historian Lawrence Gowing observed that the lower floor was divided thematically, with a male side – "Saturn" and "A Pilgrimage to San Isidro" – and a female side – "Judith and Holofernes", "Witches' Sabbath" and "Leocadia". The house changed owners a number of times before March 1873, when it came into the possession of the Belgian Frédéric Émile d'Erlanger, who speculated that the area would appreciate in value over the coming years. The murals had deteriorated badly after many years