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 and reflect only popular imagination of the times, influenced by ignorance, fear, and religious intolerance towards minority groups. Some of the existing accounts of the Sabbat were given when the person recounting them was being tortured. and so motivated to agree with suggestions put to them. Christopher F. Black claimed that the Roman Inquisition’s sparse employment of torture allowed accused witches to not feel pressured into mass accusation. This in turn means there were fewer alleged groups of witches in Italy and places under inquisitorial influence. Because the Sabbath is a gathering of collective witch groups, the lack of mass