The Witch (Night Piece)1626
A seductive witch standing inside a magic circle prepares a nasty brew for her Sabbath, surrounded by her familiars (supernatural entities) in the form of beasts and demons, as well as symbols of human weaknesses like lust (a goat) and gambling. More about this work
About this work
A seductive witch standing inside a magic circle prepares a nasty brew for her Sabbath, surrounded by her familiars (supernatural entities) in the form of beasts and demons, as well as symbols of human weaknesses like lust (a goat) and gambling. This engraving reflects the market for prints with dramatic, flickering illuminations similar to tenebrist (extreme dark/light contrasts) paintings from the early 1600s. Their theatrical lighting effects result from layering long, fine lines in dense parallel and crossed patterns. The dark manner of engraving suits the sinister scene portrayed here.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Engraving
- Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.
Dutch Golden Age
Seventeenth-century painting from the Dutch Republic: still lifes, interiors, portraits and flat, wide skies.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1943.635
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Department
- Prints
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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