1647
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Scenes of Witchcraft: Evening is a 1647 unspecified by Salvator Rosa, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a dark hillside at twilight, witches huddled around a bubbling cauldron. A ghostly skeleton floats above them, holding an hourglass and a strange letter A with a dangling string. Rosa painted witches when most artists stuck to saints or battles. The skeleton’s props—an hourglass for time, the plumb line for justice—hint that these women are passing judgment, not just casting spells. The scene feels more like a secret court than a simple curse. If you like this eerie mood, look up *chiaroscuro*—the way Rosa uses deep shadows and sharp light to make the night feel alive.
At dusk, Rosa's hags gather around a cauldron. Above their incantations soars a conjured skeleton holding an hourglass symbolizing the brevity of life. In its left hand, the demonic creature holds a capital letter A from which extends a plumb line; as ancient signs of the moon and judgment, this strange combination of symbols embodies the nocturnal judgment the witches are doling out below. Though more rare in paint, the detailed portrayal of witches at their spells enjoyed a long literary tradition. The wax effigy alludes to classical literature by Virgil and Horace that described love…
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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