Dimensions 19 5/8 x 11 13/16 in. (49.85 x 30 cm) (sheet)29 5/8 × 23 9/16 × 1 13/16 in. (75.25 × 59.85 × 4.6 cm) (outer frame)
George Romney's study for "The Lapland Witch" presents us with a figure steeped in the iconography of the occult. The hunched posture, the wild expression, and the stark shadows all speak to a world of hidden knowledge and feared power. Consider the image of the witch throughout history. From the ancient world's sorceresses to the figures of the Renaissance, the witch embodies a disruption of the natural order. The woman in this drawing, clutching and fearful, also evokes a primal unease. Her body is hunched, creating a visual echo of the posture of mourning. This pose reminds us of ancient depictions of lamenting figures found on sarcophagi, revealing how deeply rooted are fears and fascinations of death. The figure of the witch transcends the centuries, a potent symbol of our collective anxieties.
Comments
George Romney embraced the “sublime,” the flip side of the Age of Enlightenment. He was obsessed with the passions, the power of nature, the supernatural—those forces beyond human comprehension and control. In the popular imagination of the 18th century, Lapland was home to witches capable of raising storms and causing shipwrecks, and Romney wanted to capture their magic. His efforts began with fiery sketches like this one. In 1778, Romney’s friend and biographer William Hayley wrote a verse on the artist’s conjuring of a Lapland witch. Note his comment that the freedom of the artist’s drawing would need to be tempered when it came time to execute the painting. "Round fancy’s circle when thy Pencil flies,With what terrific pomp thy Spectres rise!What lust of mischief marks thy Witch’s form,While on the Lapland Rock she swells the storm!Tho’ led by Fancy, thro’ her boundless reign,Well dost thou know to quit her wild domain,When History bids thee paint, severely chasteHer simpler scene, with uncorrupted taste."
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