Witches' Sabbath

Witches' Sabbath shows a moonlit barren landscape with the devil in the form of a garlanded goat surrounded by a coven of disfigured, young and aging witches. The goat has large horns and is crowned by a wreath of oak leaves. An old witch holds an emaciated infant in her hands and the devil seems to be acting as priest at an initiation ceremony for the child. Popular superstition at the time believed the devil often fed on children and human foetuses. The skeletons of two infants can be seen: one discarded to the left and the other held by a crone in the centre foreground. Typical of the imagery of witchcraft, many of the symbols used are inverted. The goat extends his left rather than right hoof towards the child; also, the quarter moon faces out of the canvas at the top left corner. In the middle high-ground, a number of bats can be seen flying overhead, their flocking motion echoing the curve of the crescent moon.