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Four Naked Women (The Four Witches)
Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)
1497
Medium/Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
Platemark: 19.0 x 13.1 cm (7 1/2 x 5 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Katherine E. Bullard Fund in memory of Francis Bullard
Accession Number64.2182
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
The women are reminiscent of classical depictions of the Three Graces, which inspired many Renaissance artists. Different scholars have identified them as the goddesses Juno, Minerva, and Venus, with Discordia in the background, and as witches preparing for their Sabbath. Death and damnation are indicated by the skull and bone and the devil enveloped in flames. The letters O.G.H. remain a mystery.
Catalogue Raisonné
Bartsch (intaglio) 075; Meder 69 (Ia/Ih)
Signed
Signed in plate, lower center: [monogram]; dated in the ball suspended from the ceiling: 1497
Marks
Recto, collector's stamp, lower left: J.S.A. [John St. Aubyn; Lugt 1534]; in old ink, lower right: 58; verso, collector's stamp: V.M. [in rectangle; Vinzent Mayer; Lugt 2525]; collector's stamp in black ink: Seymour Haden [Lugt 1227),
InscriptionsInscribed in plate, in the ball suspended from the ceiling: 1497/O G H
ProvenanceSir John St. Aubyn (b. 1758 - d. 1839, Lugt 1534), Crowan, England. Vinzent Mayer (b. 1831 - d. 1918, Lugt 2525), Fribourg. Francis Seymour Haden (b. 1818 - d. 1910, Lugt 1227), London. 1964, sold by William H. Schab (dealer), New York to the MFA for $4,000. (Accession Date: December 9, 1964)