The Witch in the Art and Text of Early Modern Germany

By Ryan Freligh

In modern western society, the witch has been conceptualized by means of various

stereotypes and generalities. These depictions have resulted in modern-day depictions of an ugly

older women dressed in black with a broom and a pointed hat. Although such descriptions have

evolved throughout the centuries, each of these iconic characteristics of the European witch has a

different origin in history. Many of these traits come from the Early Modern Period, along with

other traits that were lost in time. As the witch’s description underwent aesthetic changes so do

the assumed behaviors of those suspected of practicing witchcraft. It is only by viewing the witch

in art or by reading of her in text that one can understand the various levels of what constituted a

witch in the Early Modern Period.

From the Middle Ages up into the Age of Reason, the presence of witches in society went

from scientific fact to illusion to mere religious superstition. Examples of these views can be

found in Early Modern texts such as the Malleus Maleficarum, where witchcraft is regarding

factually, and the De Lamiis Pythonicus Mulieribus, Where the author remains more skeptical of

witchcraft. Despite these messages being conveyed in ink, these texts also come with illustrated

depictions of witches. In these engravings such skepticism cannot be found as the subject

portrayed is either or shown as a witch or is not, despite the opinions provided in the text. By

using these texts along with other standalone engravings and those from leaflets, this text/image

conflict will be discussed as it plays a role in the broader question regarding how witches

were/are viewed.

In order to truly understand what constitutes a witch, an analysis of terms used to

describe such individuals is necessary. By looking at words use to name practitioners of

witchcraft, we can learn more about their alleged behaviors. Although the German word Hexe

came into use during the late middle ages, there was at that various other terms for such

men/women. These terms are outlined by the historian Jurist Melchior Goldast in his work:

Rechtliches Bedenken von der Konfiskation der Zauberer. Some examples of both feminine and

masculine terms for what could be categorized later as “witches” were: “Venefici, malefici,

Bockreiter, Nachtfrauen, Wettermacher, Losleger, Giftköcher,” (Gloger/Zöllner 142). When

looking at these terms, we find many of the assumed behaviors of the witch such as “the goat

rider,” frequently seen in Sabbath depictions or “the weather maker,” which was yet another

activity thought to be carried about by witches. Lastly, the term “poison cooker” is particularly

interesting because in the middle ages and after, we frequently find witches being accused of

poisoning others. This is also referenced in the Malleus Maleficarum, in which such witches are

referred to as “venefici.” Almost all of these activities have illustrated in the art of the Early

Modern Period.

When turning to the uniformity and style of how witches were depicted in 16th century

engravings, patterns are found and the artists remain faithful to the predetermined iconography of

the witch. These artists did not invent what they thought witches would look like but rather

rendered them as if witches were individuals in reality, as they were thought to be in the period.

“Artists like Baldung and Durer may at times have felt free to use the image of the witch as a

study of the nude, but even they did not invent magical paraphernalia or show deeds of witches

that could not be found in the contemporary literature (Davidson 148). For this reason witches

are not depicted as demons or the devil, but as real men and women. In their renditions of these

individuals the art-works reveal commonalties in terms of the themes used to show the witch.

One common theme in connection with witches that is found to be frequently rendered in

image is transformation. Witches were thought to turn into different animals such as crows or

wolves. In the laniis we see this link between witches and their familiars in the woodcut Ritt auf

dem Wolf (fig.1). The etching shows a male-witch riding on a wolf. It is possible that male-

witches were even more so associated with animal transformation. An example of this would be

the werewolf which in the Early Modern period was not always seen as a completely separate

entity from the witch. In both the Laniis and the Malleus we find skepticism regarding the

witch’s ability to transform into animals. Institoris explains that this is impossible as the animal

doesn’t actually exist but, as stated earlier, spirits are able to change form and provoke illusions

and it is possible that they are responsible for the effects of what looks to be a transformation

(Maxwell-Stuart 88). Despite the text discrediting transformation, the images show it.

Transformation and well as flying, another common act of the witch, can be found in

roman mythology in creatures like the striga, a witch that transformed into an owl and flew at

night (Levack 39). In the Odyssey the witch Circe also was able to transform others into animals.

Thereafter it is frequently found in late Medieval and Early Modern literature; the tale of the

Melusine also depicts a mermaid-like witch character that forges a pact with her husband to not

be seen on certain days, which he later breaks (Kwan 498). This theme of transformation serves

as an example of how witchcraft enters the art and writings of the period. At the time of the

Reformation, we find the devil also becomes more frequently depicted with witches in

engravings.

In the Laniis etching Teufel und Hexe (fig. 2), the guises of the devil are clear. Despite

having taken the shape of a man, the demon reveals both a tail and animal like hands and feet. As

stated before, demons, like angels, were believed to have been non-corporeal spirits and thus

could take different guises. Some believed that they were still able to procreate even as a non-

corporeal being by possession (Levack 30). This is discussed in the Malleus Maleficarum where

Institoris claims the devil cannot interfere with matrimony or participate in intercourse: “Evil

spirits have no bodies of their own. They have to assume human bodies or create human

likenesses.” (Institoris/Maxwell-Stuart 61) In the woodcuts of the Laniis the devil is shown as a

humanoid and there are no signs of spiritual possession in the engravings, although the devil’s

depiction remains uniform with other woodcuts from the period. “Nicht selten trägt er schwarze

oder braune Kleidung und Federn auf dem Hut” (Hallinger 74). The relationship between the

witch and the devil is shown at times more sexually while other images display a more plutonic

scene: This image is depicted more than once in the engravings within the Laniis as well as

elsewhere.

The pact with the devil is an essential part of becoming a witch, especially after the

Reformation. At this point, all witchcraft is caused by demonic power. It was believed that devil

typically came to those in need: women in poor living situations, for example. He would then

offer them help in exchange for their allegiance (Hallinger 74). Despite the devil’s power, it was

frequently believed that the witch could do what he himself could not. The mixing of potions,

starting fires, or spoiling of food were things thought to be done by witches by request of demons

or the devil. This is very likely due to the theory that demons do not possess corporeal bodies

and thus can only create illusions but not physical harm. Therefore, the witch’s body becomes

essential.

The way in which the witch’s body is conceptualized reveals potential influences to her

iconic image in culture. During the Renaissance, nudity becomes a popular theme especially with

regards to the female body. Typically witches are either depicted as an older hag-like women or

as a younger attractive women who likely was newly recruited to witchcraft. Often both women

are present in the same image, representing both an insatiable sexuality and the grotesque. It is

important to remark that not all witches were depicted as naked feral women in the forest,

however. An example woodcut, Activities of Witches from the Tractat von Bekanntnis der

Zauber und Hexen, 1591 reveals upper class nobles in elegant dress. Despite their status, the

image shows these individuals riding horned animals, summoning hailstorms, and spoiling wine

(Davidson 153). This idea that anyone could be a witch returns to the original post-reformation

fear that anyone could be tempted by the devil, even nobles or clergy.

When looking at the engraving of Albrecht Dürer: The Four Witches, 1497 (fig.3),

renditions of the Early Modern voluptuous female body are present. By analyzing the engraving

in more detail, Hultz describes the classical themes as well as the witchcraft-related ones in the

image: “The central voluptuous figure apparently wears a wreath of myrtle, a plant associated

with Venus… She evokes the pagan goddess of love and the other three figures in circular

arrangement around her become the Graces” (Hultz 62). A classical goddess like Venus or Diana

is frequently seen in relation to witchcraft even into the present day. At that time, such pagan

idols serve as a forbidden alternative to Christian figures. The idea of women going off in the

night to worship these Greco-roman idols was created by the Church, as any pagan-like activities

were considered demonic in the 16th

and 17th

centuries (Scarre 15). Hultz also comments on the

inscription on the ornament above the four women. It is most probable that the “O.G.H.” stands

for “O Gott hüte uns von Zaubereyen” (Hultz 62). This would cause the scene of four potentially

innocent women to be seen in a more sinister light.

The body is not only an essential part in depicting the witch but is also critical when

analyzing the assumed power of witches. “Witchcraft was a form of power exchanged between

bodies” (Purkiss 119). In the Early Modern period, the female body was seen to be open due to

its reproductive capabilities. In a certain light, the witch’s body has no limit as its power is able

to go from one body to the other. For this reason, witchcraft was often treated like an illness that

could be transferred from one body to another. This open body also explains why witches are

frequently linked to transformation and changing into animals. By shape shifting, witches could

prove just how malleable their bodies really were. When turning to the reports against those

accused as witches, it is common for witnesses to have not seen a witch in human-form but a

strange animal that they believed was a witch. Such transformations served as evidence in

persecutions when none was present as the witch simply was thought to be in another form at the

time of the crime.

The familiar is also seen as an extension of the witch’s body. These pet-like creatures

were thought to do a witch’s bidding. These creatures as well as demonic nyphs also were fed by

the witch, sometimes by her milk- a further usage of the witch body. It is said that if the witch

were harmed or killed, the animal would also suffer as their two bodies were linked (Purrkiss

122). Just as illness could travel from body to body, so could malevolent power. Various

examples of this limitlessness are found in folk beliefs at this time and earlier. Cunning folk

would typically drive out illness from a human body and transfer it into an animal. This also was

done when one was believed to have been hexed. In some cases, it was then said that the animal

itself became ill or went mad (Purkiss, 124). One method of ceasing a witch’s power was to trap

her hair or urine in a bottle and bury it. Here, we a see a more literal attempt of closing off the

witch’s body by taking an actual part of it. Due to this mythology regarding the witch and her

body, it is clear that the nude depictions of women and animals go deeper than artistic

fascination.

Four Witches was not the only engraving related to witchcraft created by Dürer. In fact,

his work Witch riding backwards on goat, 1500 (fig.4) reveals much more witchcraft-related

symbolism of the Period. Engravings such as this one are meaningful as it “embodies the

inversion and social disorder threatened by unregulated women” (Hultz 73). The witch here is an

older hag-like women, fitting the common archetype for the time. It was believed that older

females were more sexually fueled yet less desirable making them more obscene in society. We

see the lustfulness of the witch through her gripping of the goat’s horn as well as through her

open mouth (Hultz 74). The cupid-like figures below the goat act serve again as representatives

of classical mythology. Although it is not clear in this engraving, it appears that these agents of

love further depict the lust of the witch. Once again, the hail storm is found in the image which

represents the power and chaos that witches conjure. Great efforts are put forth to display how

unnatural the witch is; here this is shown in her hair because it blows in the direction that she

rides.

The goat or ram in the image rests in the middle as a focal point. These animals are

commonly depicted with witches in the Early Modern Period. One theory for this is that the ram

represents the astrological sign of Capricorn and thus the planet Saturn, representing violence,

melancholy, and castration (Hultz 74). The witch is eternally castrated and, as we see in Early

Modern art, other phallic symbols serve in place of this castration (brooms, horns, churning

butter, etc.) The goat is also linked to the witch as it is commonly linked to the devil in various

European cultures. A further example is the idol, Baphomet which is a goat-like creature that

later becomes associated with Satan and the occult.

Further reasoning for these specific animals being chosen to represent the devil would be

their symbolism in pagan religions. Gods like Pan or are depicted with hooves and horns and

despite such idols ruling over fertility or nature in pagan religion, they were demonized by the

church as were most pagan practices. A further example of this demonization would be the night

hunt from Grecco-Roman mythology where goddesses like Diana would venture into the night

with followers (Davidson 30).These females in the night were now depicted as heretics flying to

a dark Sabbath where they would not meet Diana, goddess of the hunt, but the devil.

The presence of nudity, sexual desire, flight, and animals serve as markers of witchcraft

in these artistic works. Images in which we find all of them are depictions of the witch’s

Sabbath, an essential part of Early Modern folklore. In Germany, the Sabbath was thought to

occur in wooded locations such as the Black Forest or the peak Brocken, in northern Germany.

Here witches allegedly would meet with the devil by flying on animals or other objects. Obscene

activities were also thought to occur at these meetings such as sexual dances and cannibalism.

Various Early Modern artists have created works depicting the Sabbath. Hans Baldung

Grien, an apprentice of Dürder focuses on such scenes even more so than his master had. In his

1510 engraving Vorbereitung zum Hexensabbat (fig. 5), we find both young and old witch

preparing their flying oil. Ingredients such as belladonna (deadly nightshade), cannabis, and baby

fat were thought to be found in these oils. Others believed it was the devil himself who allowed

the witches to fly into the night (Hallinger 85).

When turning to Grien’s engraving, we see a witch cooking a concoction in the

foreground, the smoke from which floats into the air near a flying witch. This witch, flying on a

ram, is carrying a smaller cauldron with bones floating therein; the cauldron later becomes

another icon of the witch with associations into the modern day. It is possible that this is also

flying ointment. What is not displayed in Grien’s engraving is the usage of the broom as a flying

instrument. This was one of many instruments witches rode on and would remain the most

popular in folklore until the modern day unlike manure carts and spinning wheels which, at the

time, were also see as flying objects (Hallinger 84).

The Witch’s Sabbath originated in 14th century France, where it was believed that men

and women were going off into the woods to engage in sexual dances as they worshiped the

devil (synogoga satanae). As it is described in confessions and by the church, the Sabbath served

as an anti-Christian ceremony in which Christian rituals were done backwards or in reverse

(Hallinger 85). By looking at the depictions of the witch and her Sabbath we see frequently how

inversion plays a role in making the scenes appear chaotic and other-worldly.

In 1669, a rendition of the Sabbath is illustrated by Johannes Practorius (fig.6). This

Sabbath occurs on Brocken and both witches and demonic beings are present. In the image it are

appears that not only female witches are depicted but also male ones. In the center of the image a

witch is kissing a ram; this act becomes a symbolic practice that shows the individual’s

allegiance to the devil and is found in other Early Modern depictions of witchcraft as well as in

Medieval Art depicting heretics. Other activities in the image are the common markers of

witchcraft: feeding of nymphs, dancing, sex, and flying. The scene is described in an article on

demonology by Gerhild Scholz Williams: “She [the witch] to the witches’ Sabbath, where she

ate human flesh, cooked unguents from the bodies of un-baptized children, and engaged in

obscene dances and indiscriminate, often incestuous sex.”

The Sabbath was believed to take place on the holiest of christian holidays: “Reisezeit

waren, wenn es sich um einen Sabbat mit zahlreichem Publikum handelte, die großen kirchlichen

feste und bestimmte Heiligen tage wie der Johannistag und die Walpurgisnacht” (Gloger/Zöllner

144). Resonances of this idea remain in German folklore and can be found centuries later in

works such as Goethe’s Faust, where witches congregate on Walpurgisnacht. For smaller

Sabbaths, locations such as a crossroads or a cemetery could also be used- a wealth of examples

of witches meeting in such locations can be found in today’s folklore. The overall idea being that

the location was bizarre and secret (Gloger/Zöllner 144). This idea of witches going off into the

forest or their victims being transported there also feel under criticism in later 17th

century. The

theory of demonic illusion was one again suggested; perhaps the devil came to these individuals

in a dream or they only thought they were participating. Despite this skepticism expressed in

text, such claims are not seen in the engravings of these sinister meetings.

In Molitor’s text De laniis et pythonicis mulieribus (1489) we find a more skeptical view

of witchcraft in comparison to the Malleus. Molitor argues that although witches existed their

powers were mainly illusions caused by the devil. Therefore they would take credit for

hailstorms or for having provoked other misfortunes even though they were not responsible for

them. Furthermore the Sabbath itself is discredited by Molitor and is thought to be just another

demonic illusion. This corresponds with other accounts of those accused of witchcraft who state

that they were brought to the Sabbath in their dreams yet no evidence could prove such a

meeting really happened. One theory was that the “flying-oil” used by witches, supposedly

containing ingredients like frog secretions and cannabis may have induced trance-like states that

allowed these witches to believe they were flying or engaging in certain activities (Hallinger 85).

Despite Molitor’s skepticism regarding the power of witches, the images in the text do

not correspond completely to the textual message. When looking at the woodcuts presented, their

depictions are not of demonic illusion but of a real witchcraft, producing real effects on the

world. In the woodcut Hexen machen Blitz, Donner, und Hagel” (fig.7), the image shows two

witches as they add a rooster and a snake to a fire in order to manipulate the weather. It is from

such images that the behavior of the witch becomes visual. Although witches may have only

thought they were conjuring a hail storm, the image depicts their ritual and the hail storm behind

them as cause and effect.

Nathalie Kwan explains in her dissertation “Woodcuts and Witches” a further

explanation for this discrepancy. The etchings found in the Laniis were done on wooden blocks

that were likely created in different locations than the text itself. She further argues that the

images are based on a visual ideas regarding witchcraft where the text is based on scholarly

sources (Kwan 496). Therefore these woodcuts are influenced by an iconic view of witchcraft in

the Early Modern Period or in other words, what one thought witches looked like or were

thought to do whereas the text carries a more skeptical tone. “While witchcraft as fantasy

informs both image and text, it is presented in different ways, which is why image and text do

not appear to correspond. The images involve the viewer in the fantasy of the witch, while the

dialogue examines the issue from afar (Kwan, 513). Even if these woodcuts were added to the

text to highlight the illusions of witchcraft, it would depend who was reading it to determine

whether these images were taken seriously or not.

This clash between text and image is also found in Early Modern Flugblätter. In a leaflet

published in 1533 regarding the burning of the town Schiltach, near Rotweil, both the devil and a

witch are depicted in the engraving (fig. 8). Although the witch accused of having burnt down

the town was burned at the stake, the image shows her being burned by the devil and not by

community members- which she was on April 21, 1533 in Oberndorf (Harter 16). Therefore, the

image serves as an exaggeration of the text, in which it is stated the witch had consorted with the

devil but not that he was involved in her execution. Furthermore, this depiction serves as another

example of a nude witch, however witches were typically burned clothed. “Dies in durchaus

voyeuristischer Absicht, da die Delinquenten in der Regel nicht entblößt, sondern im

sogenannten Büßerhemd hingerichtet wurden” (Harter 15). For this reason, the witch in the

image in conceptualized in the same way witches are found in other texts as opposed to being

depicted factually.

By looking at these views of the witch in different media we see a consolidated

conceptualization of how witches were seen in the Early Modern Period. Some were young

mischievous women others were grotesque older hags. Each depiction reveals a message

regarding the behavior of witches and although the artist may have had doubts regarding the

dangers of witchcraft, or regarding the limitations of a witch’s power, such skepticism is not

revealed in their detailed renditions. The engravings collect the folkloric characteristics of

witches, the devil, the Sabbath, etc. and show them without added artistic nuance, allowing for

their unity in content and style. It is only outside of these images, in the text where the author’s

true message is revealed. Although the text may have criticized the witch-craze of the 16th

century, the accompany images in the text and on leaflets only would cultivate the fear toward

and prosecution of the European witch.

Appendix of Images

Figure 1

Ulricus, Molitor, De Laniis et Phitonicis Mulieribus, 1489

Figure 2

Ulricus, Molitor, De Laniis et Phitonicis Mulieribus, 1489

Figure 3, Albrecht Dürer, „4 Hexen“, (1497)

Figure 4, „Witch riding on goat“, Albrecht Dürer

Figure 5, “Vorbereitung zum Hexensabbat,” Hans

Baldung Grien

Figure 6, Johannes Practorius, 1699

Figure 7,

Ulricus, Molitor, De Laniis et Phitonicis Mulieribus, 1489

Figure 8, Erhart Schön

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