The Witch as Muse: Art, Gender, and Power in Early Modern Europe

by Linda C. Hults

Occult topics have long fascinated artists, and the subject of witches—their imagined bodies and fantastic rituals—was a popular one for painters and printmakers in early modern Europe. Focusing on several artists in depth, Linda C. Hults probes the historical and theoretical contexts of their work to examine the ways witches were depicted and the motivations for those depictions. While studying the work of such artists as Dürer, Baldung, Jacques de Gheyn II, and Goya, Hults discerns patterns suggesting that the imagery of witchcraft served both as an expression of artistic license and as a tool of self-promotion for the artists. These imagined images of witches were designed to catch the attention of powerful and important patrons as witchcraft was being debated in political and intellectual centers. Dürer's early engravings of witnesses made in the wake of the Malleus maleficarum of 1487 were crucial in linking the seductive or aged female form with the dangers of witchcraft. The polarized idea of gender pervaded many aspects of early modern culture, including art theory. As the deluded female witch embodied the abuse of imagination and fantasy, so the male artist presented himself as putting those faculties to productive and reasoned use.

Genres: History, Art, Nonfiction, Art History

360 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2005

Reviews

[Ams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t even make it through the first 100 pages. I really, really wanted to enjoy and finish this book (the topic is so interesting and I’m a fan of art history!), but I was confused regularly.

There was one section in particular that I read and re-read multiple times because I couldn’t understand the artist the author was referencing, only to discover that it was because the artist hadn’t been introduced yet and their relevance to the section wasn’t made clear until afterwards.

I understand that academic writing is a dense thing, but Chapter 2 in particular felt like wading through molasses and I found it difficult to make it through.

Maybe I’ll give it another stab at a different time but the interest of the topic just wasn’t enough to propel me through the rest of the book.

[Rhianon Visinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking at witches and witchcraft as a tool for artist's self fashioning is not only fascinating, but very enlightening. The witch as an early modern monster has been examined through nearly every lens, but this is a unique way to view such a contentious portion of Western history.