Gathering of Witches
dated 1607 | Frans II. Francken
Francken's atmospheric witches' sabbath is a highly imaginative depiction of a subject he returned to repeatedly well into the second decade of the seventeenth century, and which proved very popular with collectors. Here, the artist clearly sought inspiration from the writings of, among others, Hildegard von Bingen and Paracelsus, though he interprets them freely and adds numerous highly-detailed demons and mythical creatures derived from the works of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The composition also reflects misogynist ideas and male fears frequently thematized in writings of that period.
Francken's atmospheric witches' sabbath is a highly imaginative depiction of a subject he returned to repeatedly well into the second decade of the seventeenth century, and which proved very popular with collectors. Here, the artist clearly sought inspiration from the writings of, among others, Hildegard von Bingen and Paracelsus, though he interprets them freely and adds numerous highly-detailed demons and mythical creatures derived from the works of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The composition also reflects misogynist ideas and male fears frequently thematized in writings of that period.
Artist:
Frans II. Francken (1581 - 1642 Antwerpen) DNB
Time:
dated 1607
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Netherlandish; Flemish
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
56 cm × 83,5 cm
Framed (gallery frame): 69,5 cm × 97,5 cm × 5,4 cm
Signed
Inscribed at lower left: DEN. JON franckeN / fecit et INtor / 1607
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 1070
Provenance
ca. 1610-1619 imperial Coll. Vienna
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