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About This Work
This etching depicts a nocturnal gathering of witches and demons performing a ritual dance before a central figure seated upon a pedestal. The scene is populated by figures riding strange beasts, a musician playing for the dancers, and a prominent owl perched atop the central figure, set against an environment marked by a crescent moon and dark foliage.
This work reflects the early modern transition of witchcraft imagery from a serious theological and diabolical threat into a subject of theatrical and satirical curiosity, mirroring the shift in Enlightenment-era attitudes toward folk belief and the supernatural.
Inscriptions(French)
Errait pendant la nuit dans un lieu solitaire, Vue secrète horreur s'empare de mes sens, Je vois ou je crois voir mil objets surprenans A la faveur d'une sombre lumiere C'est le Sabat ; rendu chez moi, Défait, troublant, et palissant d'effroi, A certain esprit fort je raconte ma chance Je dis vu tel minuet la dance Il m'interromp par un éclat : Burlesque apôtre du Sabat, Me prenez vous pour une dupe Je r'acuse un temoin que là pour préoccupe Ainsi parle tout raisonneur Mais quand l'astre du jour cesse sur nous de luire Ces fables aprés n'ont pas le mot à dire Ses rayon, seule guerissent de la peur
Translation
Wandering during the night in a solitary place, A secret sight of horror seizes my senses, I see or I think I see a thousand surprising objects By the favor of a somber light It is the Sabbath; having returned home, Undone, troubled, and paling with terror, I recount my luck to a certain freethinker I say I saw such a minuet and the dance He interrupts me with a burst of laughter: 'Burlesque apostle of the Sabbath, Do you take me for a dupe? I accuse a witness who is obsessed with it there.' Thus speaks every rationalist, But when the star of day ceases to shine upon us, These fables then have no word to say, Its rays alone cure one of fear.
Connected Texts
Malleus Maleficarum
The print visually interprets the late medieval and early modern obsession with the 'Sabbath' archetype formalized in inquisitorial texts.
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Provenance & Source
Object
Etching
genre-scene
Digital Source
Unknown · Public domain
Linked Data
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