Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) Witches' Sabbath or The Great He-Goat () are names given to an oil mural by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, completed sometime between 1821 and 1823. It explores themes of violence, intimidation, aging and death. Satan hulks, in the form of a goat, in moonlit silhouette over a coven of ugly and terrified witches. Goya was then around 75 years old, living alone and suffering from acute mental and physical distress. It is one of the fourteen "Black Paintings" that Goya applied in oil on the plaster walls of his house, the Quinta del Sordo.
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