Scenes of Witchcraft: Day (c. 1645–49): Art, History and Details

Scenes of Witchcraft: Day (c. 1645–49) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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 aspect to the scene. Rosa's use of comedy and the unexpected to critique the world around him stemmed from the satirical poetry he wrote throughout his stay in Florence and his return to Rome in 1649. By lightening the palette and mood of the painting, Day reflects his interest in satire and his self-appointed role to expose and critique human folly.

Object facts

• Title: Scenes of Witchcraft: Day
• Date: c. 1645–49
• Creator attribution: Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm (30 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 54.5 cm (21 7/16 in.)
• Collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1977.37.2

A detail from the museum

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

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Langdon, Helen. Salvator Rosa Paint and Performance. London: Reaktion Books, Limited, 2022. .
• Fabbri, Sara. “Quattro Tondi con Incantesimi di Salvator Rosa nella collezione del marchese Filippo Niccolini.” Notizie da Palazzo Albani XXXVIII (2009): 81-104.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 3. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.