Art

Evil Woman
Witches of the 18th and 19th centuries

Published

November 6, 2014

It’s past Halloween, but every day is Halloween at CVLT Nation. So today I wanted to put together some of the most inspiring imagery of the almighty witch from the past few centuries. A witch is a woman who is not afraid to show her power and her connection to the earth. A witch was spurned, tortured and burned by society, and while that doesn’t happen as frequently today (at least in our society), we have a new term for her: bitch. She’ll use her magic without hesitation, she’ll stand up to men who try and intimidate her, and she’ll be punished for it with words or with actions. When people saw these paintings, illustrations and photos, I assume they were horrified by the blasphemy and lewdness of the women they portrayed. What I see is awesome, powerful human beings who embrace themselves and their innate intelligence. I hope you see the same!

Witches’ Sabbat in Paris, postcards ca. 1910

FRANCISCO GOYA

Zacharias Dolendo

Alexander Runciman

Agostino Veneziano

William Blake

DÜRER

Frans Francken

Sir Joseph Noel Paton

Albert Penot

Salvatore Rosa

Henry Fuseli

Unknown

In this article:goya, paintings, witches

Written By Meghan

Meghan MacRae grew up in Vancouver, Canada, but spent many years living in the remote woods. Living in the shadow of grizzly bears, cougars and the other predators of the wilderness taught her about the dark side of nature, and taught her to accept her place in nature's order as their prey. She is co-founder of CVLT Nation.