The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Print with a black background and fine white lines creating a scene of a kneeling figure holding a candle and leaning over another figure laying, eyes closed, on the floor of a kitchen, a broomstick across their chest. The table and a chair behind them have been overturned. The central candle emanates thin rays of light in all directions across the page. To our right is a fireplace and in the background a door.

The Terrible Adventures of Scholastica: Illustration, Page 25

1932

Maurits Cornelis Escher

(Dutch, 1898–1972)
author

Jan Walch

Netherlands
wood engraving
Image: 23 x 16.8 cm (9 1/16 x 6 5/8 in.); Sheet: 32.1 x 24.2 cm (12 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.)
Gift of Michael S. Sachs 2004.80
Catalogue raisonné: Bool 203
Location: Not on view

Description

The book for which this image was made takes place in Oudewater, a Dutch town famous in the 1500s for allowing people accused of witchcraft to prove their innocence. M. C. Escher presented a scene in which light and shadow play a crucial role, as witches appear in a domestic setting that features distinctive geometric repeating patterns found in his work in other media. He highlighted the characteristics of wood engraving by working in white lines as he carved away from the black background created by the uncut woodblock. Reflecting on the project, he regretted that “illustrating means adopting someone else’s ideas, whereas [I want] to visualize my own . . . thoughts.”
  • Fairy Tales and Fables: Illustration and Storytelling in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 4-September 8, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=The Terrible Adventures of Scholastica: Illustration, Page 25|url=false|author=Maurits Cornelis Escher, Jan Walch|year=1932|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2004.80