The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Print in black ink of four nude women gathered in a rough circle in an interior. Two to our left have their backs to us, the left-most turning so we see her face in profile. The right two face us, one standing in front of the other. A orb inscribed with "1497 OGH" hangs over their heads, a skull sitting at their feet. From a doorway to our left emerges a lion-like face, mouth open.

The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)

1497

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Germany
engraving
Sheet: 19 x 13.1 cm (7 1/2 x 5 3/16 in.)
Gift of Howard E. Wise in memory of his parents, Samuel D. and May W. Wise by exchange 1990.85
Catalogue raisonné: Meder 69
Location: Not on view

Description

Licentious witches occupied a precarious place during the 16th and 17th centuries, due to their perceived seductive powers that threatened to overturn the patriarchal order of society. The four fleshy women of Albrecht Dürer's beguiling Four Witches exchange vague and shifting glances that suggest sinister intentions. The threatening atmosphere is emphasized by a devil lurking behind an open doorway at the left, and a globe hanging from the ceiling inscribed O.G.H. (O Gott hüte), a proverb that means "Oh God, save us"—in this instance, from these sensual witches.
  • Glaubinger, Jane. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 95 www.jstor.org
  • The Novel and the Bizarre: Salvator Rosa’s Scenes of Witchcraft. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 15-June 14, 2015).
    Dürer's Women: Images of Devotion and Desire. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 28, 2014).
    Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title=The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)|url=false|author=Albrecht Dürer|year=1497|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.85