The Magic Circle, 1886

The Magic Circle was one of Waterhouse’s earliest depictions of a subject that preoccupied him for the rest of his life, the classical sorceress.... more

by John William Waterhouse

Title

The Magic Circle, 1886

Artist

John William Waterhouse

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

The Magic Circle was one of Waterhouse’s earliest depictions of a subject that preoccupied him for the rest of his life, the classical sorceress. Here he depicted her clad in a blue gown wrought with figures of dancing pagan warriors, a curve-bladed knife in one hand and a wand in the other with which she is drawing the eponymous circle around her flaming cauldron. It is evening and she is in the wasteland below a towering cliff upon which is a citadel or cluster of tombs. She is accompanied by a group of crows and a toad and a serpent is entwining her neck – symbols of the occult. She has poppy-flowers and herbs piled beside the brazier and caught in the belt of her dress – to be burnt as offerings to accompany her incantations. In the background is a cave within which two shrouded figures are watching her cast her spell.

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April 19th, 2019

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