The Witch (Night Piece)

Description

This nocturnal scene depicts a bare-breasted sorceress concocting her evil brew in the company of bizarre beasts. She stands within a "magic circle" scratched into the ground, the supernaturally consecrated space for witchcraft—a likely inspiration for the circular forms of Salvator Rosa's paintings. She overturns a horn into her cauldron engulfed in billowing flames; mixing with the powder are two streams of ash that spew forth from pipes held in the anus of a somersaulting demon at left. The swirling, decorative composition and the variety of grotesque creatures making knowing and silly faces at the viewer add elements of whimsy and farce to the ostensibly serious occult subject.

Provenance

William Bell Scott; M. Knoedler & Co.; William Bell Scott; (M. Knoedler & Co.)

The Witch (Night Piece)

Jan van de Velde

1626

Accession Number

1943.635

Medium

engraving

Dimensions

Platemark: 21.6 x 29 cm (8 1/2 x 11 7/16 in.); Sheet: 24 x 31.5 cm (9 7/16 x 12 3/8 in.)

Classification

Print

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Williams Collection