Witches And Wicked Bodies

This free exhibition in Room 90 will examine the portrayal of witches and witchcraft in art from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century. It will feature prints and drawings by artists including Dürer, Goya, Delacroix, Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, alongside classical Greek vessels and Renaissance maiolica.

Efforts to understand and interpret seemingly malevolent deeds have had a place in society since classical antiquity and Biblical times. The majority of those accused and punished for witchcraft have been women. They are shown as monstrous hags with devil-worshipping followers, and represent an inversion of a well-ordered society and the natural world.