Terrible Crimes and Wicked Pleasures: Witches in the Art of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
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Terrible Crimes and Wicked Pleasures: Witches in the Art of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries by Linda Gail Stone A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto © Copyright by Linda Gail Stone 2012 ii Terrible Crimes and Wicked Pleasures: Witches in the Art of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Linda Gail Stone Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto 2012 Abstract Early modern representations of witchcraft have been the subject of considerable recent scholarship; however, three significant aspects of the corpus have not received sufficient attention and are treated independently here for the first time. This dissertation will examine how witchcraft imagery invited discourse concerning the reality of magic and witchcraft and suggested connections to contemporary issues through the themes of the witch‟s violent autonomy, bestial passions, and unnatural interactions with the demonic and the dead. These three themes address specific features of the multifaceted identity of the witch and participate in a larger discussion that questioned the nature of humanity. Analysis of each issue reveals a complex, ambiguous, and often radically open treatment of the subject that necessitates a revision of how witchcraft imagery from this period is understood. Each understudied aspect of witchcraft imagery is explored through a series of case studies that have not appeared together until now. Previously unexamined artworks with inventive content are introduced and canonical pictures are examined from new perspectives. These images were created in the principal artistic centers, the Italian city-states, the German provinces, and the Low Countries, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when the iii controversy over witchcraft was at its peak. Although they are few in number, these highly innovative images are the most effective and illuminating means by which to access these themes. These works of art provide valuable insights into important issues that troubled early modern society. Chapter 1 reveals how witchcraft imagery produced in the Low Countries is concerned with the witch‟s violent rejection of the social bonds and practices upon which the community depends for survival. Chapter 2 examines how the figure of the witch was used to explore concerns about the delineation and transgression of the human-animal boundary. Chapter 3 exposes an interest in the physical possibility of witchcraft; artists questioned the ability of witches and demons to manipulate the material world. Issues include the witches‟ capacity to reanimate dead bodies and create monstrous creatures. Together these images demonstrate active and meaningful engagement with the theories, beliefs, and practices associated with witchcraft. iv Acknowledgments I am obliged to Prof. Giancarlo Fiorenza for first introducing me to the lamia and thus initiating my interest in the Renaissance witch. My research into witchcraft and demonology was further fostered by Prof. Alexander Nagel who supervised a pivotal independent study on the use of imagery in demonological treatises. I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to my supervisor, Prof. Ethan Matt Kavaler for his immense contribution to the formation of this work. In addition to being a continuing source of intellectual inspiration and encouragement, he has been a patient and supportive guide. I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of my committee, Prof. Philip Sohm and Prof. Christy Anderson, for their excellent suggestions on how to improve my thesis. A special thank you is due to Prof. Nicholas Terpstra and Prof. Stephanie Dickey, my internal external and external readers respectively, for their valuable comments. It is a pleasure to thank those professors and colleagues who made this thesis possible. There are, however, those who are deserving of special mention. I wish to thank Carolin König for her warm friendship and eagerness to assist me at every opportunity. Similarly, I am indebted to Rebekah Carson and Amy Miller for their kind support, invaluable advice, and camaraderie. I am grateful to Linda Clark for her grammatical corrections, enthusiasm, and most importantly, her friendship. The travel required for this dissertation would not have been possible without the generous support of the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada, as well as the Art Department at the University of Toronto. I am indebted to the staff at the following institutions without whose assistance I could not have completed my research: the Warburg Institute, the National Gallery in Washington, the National Gallery in London, the British Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Galleria Nazionale in Parma, the Rijksmuseum, the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt, and the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart. I would also like to express my appreciation for the office staff in the Art Department at the University of Toronto. v Finally, I would like to dedicate my dissertation to my family who provided unfailing love and support during this entire process. vi Table of Contents List of Illustrations ......................................................................................................................... ix Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Historiography.......................................................................................................................... 15 Issues of Interpretation: Notions and Images of Witchcraft .................................................... 21 Chapter 1 Autonomy and Exclusion ............................................................................................. 29 Frans Francken II‟s Witches‟ Assembly ................................................................................... 32 Materiality and Display ..................................................................................................... 37 The Witches‟ Sabbath ....................................................................................................... 42 The Question of Witchcraft and its Consequences ........................................................... 46 Salvation ........................................................................................................................... 59 Scene of Witchcraft from the Circle of Cornelis Saftleven ...................................................... 61 Infanticide ......................................................................................................................... 65 Vital Fluids ........................................................................................................................ 69 Roelandt Savery‟s Cowshed with Witches ............................................................................... 75 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 83 Chapter 2 Bestial Passions ............................................................................................................ 85 Anonymous Italian Scene of Witchcraft ................................................................................... 88 Anthropomancy ................................................................................................................. 89 Age and Youth .................................................................................................................. 93 Inconstancy and the Status of Women .............................................................................. 95 Dosso Dossi‟s Circe and Her Lovers in a Landscape ........................................................... 101 Transformation ................................................................................................................ 105 Temptress ........................................................................................................................ 109 Hans Baldung Grien‟s Witch and Dragon ............................................................................. 114 vii Baldung‟s Audience ........................................................................................................ 116 Sexuality and the Female Body ...................................................................................... 121 Demonic Sex and Bestiality ............................................................................................ 126 The Potential for Progeny ............................................................................................... 131 Hans Baldung Grien‟s Bewitched Groom .............................................................................. 135 The „Groom‟ ................................................................................................................... 137 The Gaze ......................................................................................................................... 140 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 148 Chapter 3 The Demonic and the Dead ........................................................................................ 151 Jacques de Gheyn II‟s Preparations for the Witches‟ Sabbath .............................................