Meeting of Demons and Sorcerers (Reunion de Diables et de Sorciers), from The Sabbaths

This startling image of flying witches, ghoulish specters, necromancy, and cannibalism shows the height of Gillot’s macabre imagination. A horned figure presides over the torture of unfortunate humans while, at left, a cavalry of freakish hybrid mounts arrive at the witches’ sabbath. Still a shadowy figure, Gillot—better known as the teacher of Antoine Watteau—created a variety of images that ranged from the fantastical and bizarre to the picturesque and pastoral. A prolific illustrator and designer of theatrical decorations and costumes, Gillot’s work elaborated upon his propensity for the inventive and capricious.