Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) whose full-length portrait appears in the same series. As with the other "Black Paintings", Goya began with a black background which he painted over with lighter pigments, then with broad, heavy brushstrokes of grey, blue and brown. The darker areas were achieved by leaving the black under-paint exposed; this is most obvious in the figure of the Devil. Like the other works in the series, "Witches' Sabbath" is worked up through heavy, slashing brushstrokes. The plaster was underlaid with thick carbon black before the paint was applied in hues of white lead, Prussian blue, vermilion of mercury, and crystals of
Fernando de Silva, 12th Duke of Alba Fernando de Silva, 12th Duke of Alba Fernando de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 12th Duke of Alba, GE, KOGF, KOHS, KOC (27 October 1714 – 15 November 1776), was a Spanish politician and general who was Prime Minister of Spain in 1754. Better known as the Duke of Huéscar, Fernando de Silva was a man of the Enlightenment and friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was Spanish ambassador to France between 1746 and 1749. On November 8, 1753 he was appointed Mayordomo mayor and chief of the Royal Household and, on April 9, 1754 he was made director of the