Albrecht Dürer, The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland, 1964.22 · The Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)View original →
Albrecht Dürer

The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)

1497

Current Collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Medium
engraving
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-199777

Dating from early in Albrecht Dürer’s career, this engraving cannot be tied to a specific narrative but may allude to the Greek goddess of the underworld, Hecate. Four nude women gather under an orb with a skull at their feet, while a ghoul emerges to their left. Three of the women could represent Hecate, who was often depicted with three faces or bodies; the fourth may be Diana, Hecate’s counterpart on earth. The nudity and allusions to black magic suggest mischief and the realm of witches. Prints offered a new medium for exploring subject matter that was deemed inappropriate in other media,…

Provenance

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland, 1964.22

Registry history

  • 1497 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — prints

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