The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Scenes of Witchcraft: Night

Scenes of Witchcraft: Night

c. 1645–1649
(Italian, 1615–1673)
Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm (30 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 54.5 cm (21 7/16 in.)

Did You Know?

The artist chose the painting's shape to reference the foundational role of the circle in practicing magic.

Description

In the pitch black of night, two groups of men are gathered in a forest. To the left, travelers apprehensively pause to watch a magician conjure terrifying apparitions. Since the Middle Ages, necromancy, the act of communing with the dead, was associated with male sorcerers. In Rosa's painting, the wizened necromancer who stands tall and resolute directly below a classical column is reminiscent of Moses, a predecessor to Renaissance depictions of sorcerers. Rosa's learned magicians not only invoke associations with philosophers and intellects, but they would have also referred to the artist himself and the intellectual elite with whom he associated in Florence. Just as a powerful magician could conjure strange creatures with his wand, so too could Rosa shape a strange world with his originality, intelligence, and the skillful use of paint and brush.
  • Family of the Marchese Giovanni Niccolini, Florence; [Heim Gallery, London]. Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1977.
  • Langdon, Helen. Salvator Rosa Paint and Performance. London: Reaktion Books, Limited, 2022. . Chapter 2
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 3. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Reproduced: cat. 176D, p. 398 - 403
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 138 archive.org
    Salerno, Luigi, and Ira Kohn. "Four Witchcraft Scenes by Salvator Rosa." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 7 (September 1978): 225-231.
    Published as: Witches' Sabbath Mentioned: P. 224-231: Reproduced: P. 225, 229 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).
    Salvator Rosa (1615-1673): Bandits, Wilderness, and Magic. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (organizer) (December 12, 2010-March 27, 2011).
    The Night. Haus der Kunst, Munich (organizer) (November 1, 1998-February 17, 1999).
    CMA, January 1978: Year in Review, cat. no. 42. The Night, Haus der Kunst, Munich, November 1, 1998- February 7, 1999.
    Kimbell Art Museum (12/12/2010 - 3/27/2011): "Salvator Rosa (1615-1673): Bandits, Wilderness, and Magic", ex. cat. no. 21d, p. 170-173.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (2/15/2015 - 6/14/2015); "The Novel and the Bizarre: Salvator Rosa's Scenes of Witchcraft"
  • {{cite web|title=Scenes of Witchcraft: Night|url=false|author=Salvator Rosa|year=c. 1645–1649|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.37.4