Scenes of Witchcraft: Night
c. 1645–1649
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 54.5 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-109275
In the pitch black of night, two groups of men are gathered in a forest. To the left, travelers apprehensively pause to watch a magician conjure terrifying apparitions. Since the Middle Ages, necromancy, the act of communing with the dead, was associated with male sorcerers. In Rosa's painting, the wizened necromancer who stands tall and resolute directly below a classical column is reminiscent of Moses, a predecessor to Renaissance depictions of sorcerers. Rosa's learned magicians not only invoke associations with philosophers and intellects, but they would have also referred to the artist h…
Provenance
Wade Fund, 1977.37.4
Registry history
- c. 1645–1649 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
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