Baldung Grien, Hans

The Witches

1510; Monochrome print, two plates (grey and black); 37.8 x 25.8 cm; Louvre, Paris

This pupil of Dürer was interested in the camaieu printing technique, a wood engraving which imitated. highlighted drawings on tinted paper. lt was in Strasbourg, between 1509 and 1512, that Baldung was particularly preoccupied with the theme of witches and death. This nocturnal sabbath is one of his most well-known works and perhaps his first as an independent master at Strasbourg. The figures are shown on a large scale, and the composition is precise, with a geometric arrangement in a pyramidal group with diagonals fanning out from the centre and a system of hatching to create light effects.