Witches' Sabbath

This impressive painting by Goya was part of a series of six on the theme of witchcraft commissioned by the Dukes of Osuna to decorate their "El Capricho" estate near Madrid. The main character in the scene is the devil, depicted as a large male goat who is being given two boys as an offering. It depicts an episode inspired by the 1610 Logroño auto-da-fé, and this set of paintings as a whole is considered to be a satirical criticism of the superstitions of the educated society to which the Dukes of Osuna and the painter belonged.