Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Witch Wednesday

John William Waterhouse: Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses (1891)

Well, I rather missed my cue for Hallowe'en, but a day with a  "W" in it is as much excuse as anyone should need for posting beautiful Victorian paintings of Witches. Those Pre-Raphaelites love their witches! Mysterious, powerful, sexually independent, threatening ... they play into all sorts of male fantasies. Especially as  - in the example above - they seem to have a tendency to under-dress in public. I love the transparent muslin in that picture, and the sneaky depiction of her nipples .. as well as the fantastic use of the mirror. Naughty and gorgeous.

John William Waterhouse: Circe Invidiosa (1892)

Circe is the one of the oldest witches in literature, though technically she's a  minor goddess. Here she is using a magical potion to turn her love-rival Scylla into a hideous man-eating monster. This painting is particularly striking for the palpable malevolence, and the use of colour.

 John Melhuish Strudwick: Circe and Scylla (1886)

 A gentler version of that poison-in-the-bath scene.


Wright Barker (1864-1941): Circe

But her most famous appearance is in the Odyssey, where she is found holding court on the island of Aeaea with an entourage of lions and wild beasts, and transforms Odyssus' exhausted sailors into swine (insert your own metaphorical interpretation here).

Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898): The Wine of Circe

I love the fawning great cats in these pictures. In dog circles the action below is known as "counter-surfing." You look away for a moment, distracted by contemplation of the Black Arts, and they're straight in there lapping up the magic potion.

John William Waterhouse (yes, again - obsessed or what?): Circe or The Sorceress

Okay, moving on from Circe...
No, actually I think I'll do the other witches next Wednesday. Circe is a jealous sort and I don't want to start a fight ...

Damn, I'm going to have to write a Circe story sometime, aren't I?
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8 comments:

  1. Craig Sorensen9 November 2011 at 11:19

    Methinks you are going to have to write a Circe story!

    Great, evocative images of a fascinating character. Thanks for sharing them!

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  2. Janine Ashbless9 November 2011 at 12:54

    :-)
    I can see it taking shape already...

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  3. Jo9 November 2011 at 13:06

    Lovely idea. I want the dresses, especially in the first one!

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  4. Janine Ashbless9 November 2011 at 15:27

    I want the dresses and the HAIR! Pre-Raph women have great hair.

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  5. Fulani10 November 2011 at 17:22

    Nice pics - the late 1800s/Pre-Raph painters seem to be a constant source of inspiration for quite a few of us, I think.

    I'll look out for next instalment, though in terms of which Wednesday is which, I won't be online next Wednesday because we'll be in the middle of moving house.

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  6. Janine Ashbless10 November 2011 at 18:14

    Ooh - good luck with the house move Fulani. Personally I'm wondering how to do next Wednesday because I'll be at my parents', which means no proper internet access. Hmm. Do I throw myself on the mercy of Blogger advance scheduling? Will it just eat all the pictures?

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  7. Fulani11 November 2011 at 12:46

    I haven't tried the advance scheduling function but people's experiences seem variable! These days my response to that is a laptop and mobile dongle. and in fact that's what my internet connection will be from Wednesday until the broadband installation guy turns up in a couple of weeks' time.

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  8. Janine Ashbless11 November 2011 at 13:47

    The witches will be waiting for you!

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