The Witches' Sabbath

Halloween is coming, which means the spooky archive finds come to light! 

     Let's start by exploring this amazing print from 1510 of a bunch of witches doing witchy stuff! 

     The Witches' Sabbath (also just called The Witches) is a woodcut from 1510 by Hans Baldung Grien.  Baldung was a journeyman in Albrecht Dürer's workshop (his signature looked a little like Dürer's) before he went on to become a well-known painter and print-maker.

Detail of Baldung's signature.

           This print from a chiaroscuro woodcut, which is evident from the three printing colors (white, black, and gray). ​Chiaroscuro woodcuts are two (or more) carved blocks of wood that are printed on top of each other to make the image - one block had the outline, and others had the shading. This creates a sense of depth and in this case, the shading, dark black, and spots of white give the witches a creepy glow as they sit around their cauldron.

The print with just the outline block.

    Baldung, like many Nothern Renaissance painters and print-makers, often made works of art with religious themes, but was pretty into witchcraft and mysticism too.  In the Upper Rheinland (in Germany, along the Rhine river), heretical cults and sects were actively being suppressed. ​

A naked woman riding on a goat, a common depiction of the devil.

     Malleus Maleficarum, or the Witches' Hammer, was been published in 1487, licensed by the Roman Catholic Church. The book advocated for the eradication of witches and was extremely popular in terms of sales, perhaps because it could help readers get an idea of who is a witch and what is witchcraft. But, for the majority who weren't literate, artists like Baldung could create a image that told the story, with all the classic visuals of the witch. 

Can't do witch stuff without bones.

The bottom right features a cat, black, no doubt.

Frogs flying into, or out of, the cauldron.

Holding a dead chicken on a plate.

Malleus Maleficarum accused witches of being able to steal men's penises - or it's sausages for a light meal after the incantation.

Pseudo-runes on the cauldron were probably meant to signify mysticism or some other strange tongue witches were thought to have.

     These are such classic images of witchcraft, and Baldung has done a precise and exacting job of bringing it to life, with small details, attention to figure, and beautiful lines.
     Stay tuned for more creepy, Halloween-themed posts in October!