jw-waterhouse:The Magic Circle (1886),by J.W. WaterhouseIn above painting, the Magic Circle is drawn
jw-waterhouse:The Magic Circle (1886),by J.W. WaterhouseIn above painting, the Magic Circle is drawn in the earth bya witch behind a cauldron over an open fire. With the wand in one hand and a Celtic bolinein the other, the witch is carrying a snake around her neck, representingouroboros: the symbol of life and death. Several ravens, one of them on top of a human skull, do not dare toenter the circle. In the smoke from the cauldron,figures are starting to form and in the background, a cave marks the entranceof the underworld.This is a much more forceful image than the gouache with thesame name from 1882 by Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones. Waterhouse got more and more interested in theoccult, as was already demonstrated by “Consulting the Oracle” (1884) and hekept on painting sorceresses until his death. The face of the witch is believed to have been painted after his sister:May Waterhouse. -- source link
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