Cleveland Museum of Art
The Four Witches (Four Naked Women)
Albrecht DürerLinkedCulture matchlcp-91cf98b472c5
- Date
- 1497
- Medium
- engraving
- Culture
- Germany, late 15th Century
- Department
- Prints
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 140237
From LinkedCulture
Four naked women huddle beneath a hanging orb inscribed with the date 1497, while a skull and bones lie scattered at their feet and a grotesque demon lurks in the shadows to their left. This early engraving by Albrecht Dürer was made when he was still in his mid-twenties, and it may allude to the triple-bodied goddess Hecate. Prints gave Dürer the freedom to explore subjects too transgressive for painting, making this one of his boldest and most mysterious works.
Written by LinkedCulture for its video on this object. Machine-generated (claude-sonnet-4-6), not yet reviewed by a person. It is not part of the museum’s record.
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
Dating from early in Albrecht Dürer’s career, this engraving cannot be tied to a specific narrative but may allude to the Greek goddess of the underworld, Hecate. Four nude women gather under an orb with a skull at their feet, while a ghoul emerges to their left. Three of the women could represent Hecate, who was often depicted with three faces or bodies; the fourth may be Diana, Hecate’s counterpart on earth. The nudity and allusions to black magic suggest mischief and the realm of witches. Prints offered a new medium for exploring subject matter that was deemed inappropriate in other media, such as painting.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
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