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
James Roberts (painter) was the reason her father agreed to sit for Roberts, that the result was uncharacteristic, and that the book shown was a novel. Roberts was also a scene painter at Blenheim Palace, in 1788 and 1789. In 1789 he was designer for "The Maid of the Oaks", and "False Appearances". a translation by Henry Seymour Conway of "Trompeurs Dehors" by Louis de Boissy. By 1795, Roberts had an appointment as portrait painter to the Duke of Clarence. He exhibited again annually at the Royal Academy from 1795 to 1799. The National Portrait Gallery, London holds 52 portraits by Roberts or