Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673), Scenes of Witchcraft, c. 1645–1649. Oil on canvas. Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm; Unframed: 54.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1977.37.

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

A huge upturn in interest in witchcraft emerged during the 1500s in Europe, but by the middle of the next century—at least among the cultured elite of Florence—a backlash arose against the many accusations of sorcery. Artists and writers explored the topic more out of curiosity and amusement, chief among them the poet, painter, and satirist Salvator Rosa, who examined witchcraft with gusto in numerous poems and works of art, including these four paintings. They show a range witch types, from the beautiful enchantress to the old crone to the male sorcerer, and represent activities commonly associated with black magic: levitation, love potions, devil worship, the invocation of demons, and transformation. A common subject in Italian art of the 1600s, transformation was usually seen in interpretations of myths based on Ovid's ancient Latin text, the Metamophoses. Rosa found a novel way to exploit this idea, drawing attention to his own ability to transform paint and canvas into a disturbing, nightmarish world.

Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673), Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning, c. 1645–1649. Oil on canvas. Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm; Unframed: 54.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1977.37.1.

Rosa's first scene depicts a young witch who plunges her knife into a writhing amphibian at dawn. The dark clouds of daybreak and anthropomorphic crags provide a gloomy atmosphere, while malevolent birds with piercing beaks hover around the central stabbing, focusing the viewer's attention on the witch's vicious act. The only beautiful enchantress Rosa ever painted, her elegance and ability to transform men into animals evokes the goddess Circe. But Rosa wasn't interested in classical imagery; he inverted expectations by transforming Circe into an explicitly violent sorceress. Her calm expression makes the terrifying gesture of upraised human hands among the birds even more disturbing.

Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673), Scenes of Witchcraft: Day, c. 1645–1649. Oil on canvas. Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm; Unframed: 54.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1977.37.2.

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.

Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673), Scenes of Witchcraft: Evening, c. 1645–1649. Oil on canvas. Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm; Unframed: 54.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1977.37.3.

At dusk, Rosa's hags gather around a cauldron. Above their incantations soars a conjured skeleton holding an hourglass symbolizing the brevity of life. In its left hand, the demonic creature holds a capital letter A from which extends a plumb line; as ancient signs of the moon and judgment, this strange combination of symbols embodies the nocturnal judgment the witches are doling out below. Though more rare in paint, the detailed portrayal of witches at their spells enjoyed a long literary tradition. The wax effigy alludes to classical literature by Virgil and Horace that described love magic. Poets in the 1500s and 1600s continued the tradition, writing verse about witches concocting potions and performing love spells. In Rosa's own poem "La Strega (The Witch)," the jilted Phyllis vows to take revenge on her feeble lover, listing the ingredients for her black magic: "ground powders, mystic gems, snakes and owls, stinking blood. . . ." Painting was considered "mute poetry" in the 1600s, and Rosa often explored the same themes in his written and painted art—a clever way to gain fame as a unique intellect.

Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673), Scenes of Witchcraft: Night, c. 1645–1649. Oil on canvas. Framed: 76.2 x 9.6 cm; Unframed: 54.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1977.37.4.

In the pitch black of night, two groups of men are gathered in a forest. To the left, travelers apprehensively pause to watch a magician conjure terrifying apparitions. Since the Middle Ages, necromancy, the act of communing with the dead, was associated with male sorcerers. In Rosa's painting, the wizened necromancer who stands tall and resolute directly below a classical column is reminiscent of Moses, a predecessor to Renaissance depictions of sorcerers. Rosa's learned magicians not only invoke associations with philosophers and intellects, but they would have also referred to the artist himself and the intellectual elite with whom he associated in Florence. Just as a powerful magician could conjure strange creatures with his wand, so too could Rosa shape a strange world with his originality, intelligence, and the skillful use of paint and brush.