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The Sorceress
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This remarkable engraving of a sorceress mid-conjure is the work of Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver Jan van de Velde the younger. In Van de Velde's energetic and artfully arranged scene we see a young sorceress at work above a fire and, cavorting in its windswept flames, a motley crew of various demonic figures. Amid the talons, wings, and characterful faces, there are pipes a plenty, with two notably placed up a demon's bum and streaming with powders in elegant arcs. The Latin at the base of the print gives a clue as to the meaning of the print, which seems to be a commentary on the perils of temptation: “What evils Desire commands, in the small secluded place; who, by sweet incantation, overcomes the minds of the purest mortals, induces frenzy in everyone! But how quickly it slips by; Death overtakes brief life, brief delights. Laughing for a moment, in eternity suffering regret.” (Rijksmuseum)