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Witch Riding Backwards on a Goat

Print
ca. 1500 (engraved)
Artist/Maker
Durer (artist)
Place of origin
Nuremberg (engraved)

Engraving print on paper; inscribed with the artist's monogram with the D reversed. A witch sits backwards on a leaping goat. She clutches one of its horns in one hand and a broomstick or spindle in the other. Her hair flies out behind her and the stones of a hailstorm rain down towards her from the upper right. Below her four putti disport themselves, the arrangement of their bodies forming a ring shape with the goat: one carries an alchemist's pot, to use as her cauldron; another holds a thorn apple plant, an ingredient with magical properties; and a third with his bottom pointed towards the viewer is breaking wind.

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Object details

Category
Prints
Object type
Print
TitleWitch Riding Backwards on a Goat (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Engraving print on paper
Printing Ink
Paper
Engraving
Brief description
The Witch by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528); engraving
Physical description
Engraving print on paper; inscribed with the artist's monogram with the D reversed. A witch sits backwards on a leaping goat. She clutches one of its horns in one hand and a broomstick or spindle in the other. Her hair flies out behind her and the stones of a hailstorm rain down towards her from the upper right. Below her four putti disport themselves, the arrangement of their bodies forming a ring shape with the goat: one carries an alchemist's pot, to use as her cauldron; another holds a thorn apple plant, an ingredient with magical properties; and a third with his bottom pointed towards the viewer is breaking wind.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 11.4cm
  • Image width: 7cm
  • Sheet height: 160mm
  • Sheet width: 124mm
Style
Renaissance
Marks and inscriptions
'AD' (Inscribed with the artist's monogram (with reversed D) at lower right.)
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Subjects depicted
Witches
Goats
Putti
Associated object
E.628-1940 (Copy)
Bibliographic references
  • Strauss, Walter L., ed. The Illustrated Bartsch 10 (Commentary): Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer. New York: Abaris Books, 1980. 328 p., ill. ISBN 089835000X. No.67, pp.150-151.
  • Dodgson, Campbell. Albrecht Dürer, Numerical Catalogue of the Engravings, Etchings, Dry-Points with Technical Details, London 1926. No.41.
  • Hollstein, F.W.H. German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, c.1400-1700. Volume VII. Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1954-. No.68.
  • Schoch, R., M. Mende and A. Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer. Das Druckgraphische Werk. Band I: Kupferstiche, Eisenradierungen und Kaltnadelblätter. Munich, London, New York, 2001. No.28.
  • Bartrum, Guilia, ed. Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy - The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist / with contributions by Günter Grass, Joseph L. Koerner and Ute Kuhlemann. London: The British Museum Press, 2002. 320 p., ill. ISBN 0714126330. No.178, p.228.
  • Heller, Joseph. Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürer. Bamberg: 1827. Vols. 2 & 3 (vol. 1 was not published). No.867.
  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna, 1932. No.68.
  • Tietze, Hans and Erika Tietze-Conrat. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers. Vol. 1, Augsburg 1928; vol.2, Basel and Leipzig 1937; vol.3, Basel and Leipzig, 1938. No.179.
  • Panofsky, Erwin. The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer. Volume I, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955 (4th edn). Volume II, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1945 (2nd edn). No.174.
  • Strauss, W.L. The Intaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer . New York, 1977. No.29.
  • Zika, C. Dürer's Witch, Riding Women and Moral Order. In: D. Eichberger and C. Zika, eds. Dürer and his Culture. Cambridge, 1998.
  • Strauss, Walter L., ed. The Illustrated Bartsch 10 (Commentary): Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer. New York: Abaris Books, 1980. 328 p., ill. ISBN 089835000X. No.84, pp.187-189.
  • Heller, Joseph. Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürer. Bamberg: 1827. Vols. 2 & 3 (vol. 1 was not published). No.963.
  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna, 1932. No.85.
  • Dodgson, Campbell. Albrecht Dürer, Numerical Catalogue of the Engravings, Etchings, Dry-Points with Technical Details. London 1926. No.17.
  • Tietze, Hans and Erika Tietze-Conrat. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers. Vol. 1, Augsburg 1928; vol.2, Basel and Leipzig 1937; vol.3, Basel and Leipzig, 1938. No.184.
  • Panofsky, Erwin. Albrecht Dürer. Princeton 1943. (Addenda in the editions of 1945 and 1948). No.191.
  • Strauss, W.L. The Intaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer . New York, 1977.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1910, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1911
  • Capron, Emma (Author), Clayton, Martin (Contributor), Wytema, Charlotte (Contributor) The Ugly Duchess: beauty and satire in the Renaissance London: National Gallery Global, 2023
Other number
B.67 - Le Peintre-Graveur
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.4628-1910

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O781150/witch-riding-backwards-on-a-print-durer/
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