Discovery of Witches Gallery

Witchs cauldron and spider web, c1950. Creator: Shirley Markham

Witch's cauldron and spider web, c1950. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. The writer, artist, poet, and illustrator Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was one of her tutors, and her style of drawing was also influenced by other British illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Edward Bawden. Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration. Her portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time

© Shirley Markham Collection / Heritage-Images

Scenes of Witchcraft, c. 1645-1649. Creator: Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615-1673)

Scenes of Witchcraft, c. 1645-1649. 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

© Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Manuscript page with depiction Athanor, the alchemists furnace

Manuscript page with depiction Athanor, the alchemists furnace. The piper may represent the wind element. Country of Origin: Czech Republic. Date/Period: 17th C. Place of Origin: Waldstein Residence at Duchcov. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive/ Mnichovo Hradiste chateau library, Czech Republic

© Werner Forman Archive / Heritage-Images

Alchemy, Book, Europe, Fire, Forman, Illustration, Magic, Occult, Sign, Special, Symbol, Werner, Werner Forman, Werner Forman Archive