Vier heksen 1455 - 1503

Israhel van Meckenem created this engraving, ‘Four Witches’, in the late fifteenth century. It depicts four nude women, presumably witches, in an interior setting, complete with sinister details like skulls and flames. Made in Germany during a period of intense religious and social upheaval, the image reflects the era’s obsession with witchcraft, particularly the association of women with demonic forces. Notice how the artist uses the then-burgeoning technology of printmaking to disseminate these ideas more widely than ever before. The detailed rendering of the women's bodies, while seemingly objective, participates in a broader cultural project of defining and demonizing certain types of female bodies as deviant or dangerous. The very existence of institutions such as the Inquisition helped shape the production of this artwork. Understanding this piece requires a critical look at period texts such as the "Malleus Maleficarum," and court records of witch trials, alongside social histories that explore gender and power dynamics in the late medieval period. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.