The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)

The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)

1497
(German, 1471–1528)
Germany, 15th century
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=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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