Trials (Los Caprichos, Plate 60)

In this scene, a woman floating in the air holds the head of a man who hangs horizontally in space, seemingly undergoing a dark initiation or test. Behind them looms a massive, imposing goat, a traditional symbol of the devil, while a skull and cats rest on the ground, suggesting themes of witchcraft and the occult.

This print reflects the Enlightenment-era fascination with the persistence of superstition and the 'sabbath' imagery that permeated late medieval and early modern discourses on witchcraft. It serves as a critique of the irrational, linking the 'trials' of the Inquisition to the very folk-superstitions they sought to eradicate.