1647
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Scenes of Witchcraft: Day is a 1647 unspecified by Salvator Rosa, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a wild, rocky hillside at noon. Witches with tangled hair clutch skulls, slice lizards, and stir a bubbling pot. An owl perches nearby, wings spread like a dark shadow. Rosa painted witches differently—less as monsters, more as messy, busy people. The lizard-skinning witch is gross but almost ordinary, like someone gutting a fish. The owl replaces the usual goat, making the scene feel stranger. If you like this, look up *chiaroscuro*—the way Rosa uses deep shadows and sharp light to make the scene feel alive.
Rosa's scene at noon showcases several hoary hags that exemplify his treatment of witches. Clutching skulls, wielding brooms, and slicing lizards, the witches prepare to travel to the Sabbath, an orgy of witches. One witch flays the skin of a thrashing lizard to extract the innards needed to concoct magical unguents, while her companions brandish skulls. Goats were the common mode of transportation for witches, but Rosa substitutes an owl, a harbinger of evil. Although Rosa foregrounds the violent cruelty of witchcraft, situating the grotesque hags in the full light of day introduces a comic…
The artist chose the painting's shape to reference the foundational role of the circle in practicing magic.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Salvator Rosa (1615 – 15 March 1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticised landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th century.
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