The Four Witches

The Four Witches (German: Die Vier Hexen), or The Four Naked Women,^[1] or The Four Sorceresses^[2] or Scene in a Brothel, are titles given to a 1497 engra
ving by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer. One of his earliest signed engravings,

^[3] it shows four nude, exuberant women gathered conspiratorially in a circle in a confined interior setting, perhaps a bath house,^[4] which appears to have entrances from either side. Although clearly erotic, a small horned demon, perhaps representing temptation,

^[5] is positioned in the left hand portal, peering out and holding what may be a hunting object, and is engulfed in flames.

Although the engraving has been subject to prolonged and significant scholarly analysis, it remains enigmatic, and there is nothing in his later writings to indicate his intent.

^[6] There is no consensus as to its subject matter or its intended meaning, with art historians associating it with either witch hunting or figures from classical mythology. The women stand underneath a suspended globe or sphere, and before an open stone window, which, given the human skull and thigh bone placed across from it, may be a gateway to death,

^[7] and that the women are engaged in some type of nefarious scheme, perhaps linked to the 1487 inquisition treatise Malleus Maleficarum.^[8] The alternative view is that the women represent Greek or Roman goddesses, perhaps Hecate, patroness of evil magic, poisonous plants, and ghosts, or her earthly counterpart Diana.^[9]

Dürer's monogram "AD" appears on the center of the floor. Numerous original prints exist, held at a number of major museums.