The Duchess "...confronts 'La Beata,' identified by José Ezquerra del Bayo as Rafaela Luisa Velazquez, with a coral amulet that protects against the evil eye. The panic-stricken old woman defends herself with a cross, as if from a demonic apparition." From Goya: Images of Women, page 221, written by Aileen Ribeiro, National Gallery of Art, 2002