Frans Francken the Younger, Witches’ Sabbath, 1607

It’s a fantastical, frightening, Bosch-like image of a witches’ gathering that left some contemporaries wondering how Francken knew so much about it in the first place. Dualities keep appearing in the painting: ugly vs beautiful witches, naked vs clothed, a shining golden arch against a stormy sky, etc, all of which makes for a more interesting painting and points to how evil can infiltrate our lives under the guise of beauty and goodness.
1. Full painting
2. Demons gambling in a whale mouth cave
3. A beautiful witch and an old crone who writes alchemical recipes for potions
4. Witches performing spells and curses using alchemical books
5. Demons sucking the life force from humans
6. Witches’ brew in a cauldron
7. Witch chopping off heads