Artwork Page for Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning

Details / Information for Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning

Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning

c. 1645–1649
(Italian, 1615–1673)
Measurements
Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm (30 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 54.5 cm (21 7/16 in.)
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

The artist chose the painting's shape to reference the foundational role of the circle in practicing magic.

Description

Rosa's first scene depicts a young witch who plunges her knife into a writhing amphibian at dawn. The dark clouds of daybreak and anthropomorphic crags provide a gloomy atmosphere, while malevolent birds with piercing beaks hover around the central stabbing, focusing the viewer's attention on the witch's vicious act. The only beautiful enchantress Rosa ever painted, her elegance and ability to transform men into animals evokes the goddess Circe. But Rosa wasn't interested in classical imagery; he inverted expectations by transforming Circe into an explicitly violent sorceress. Her calm expression makes the terrifying gesture of upraised human hands among the birds even more disturbing.
A circular oil painting depicts a woman with light skin tone seated on a rock. She wears a white blouse and yellow dress, pointing a sword at a frog-like creature. Fantastic creatures surround her, including a tall white bird with spread wings and a skeletal, finned head. Dark shadows fill a cave on our right, while light from our left illuminates the rocky foreground and distant landscape.

Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning

c. 1645–1649

Salvator Rosa

(Italian, 1615–1673)
Italy, 17th century

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