Lo Stregozzo: a female witch riding on an animal skeleton, preceded by two men and a boy on a goat blowing on a horn, another naked man behind carrying two bones 1510 - 1520

Agostino Veneziano's engraving, made around 1520, depicts a witch riding an animal skeleton, a procession led by figures embodying primal energies. This vivid imagery draws from a deep well of cultural anxieties and fantasies related to witchcraft. Consider the skeleton: a symbol of death and decay, yet here it serves as a vehicle, a twisted chariot. This motif echoes ancient rituals and beliefs where death was not an end but a transition. Similarly, the goat ridden by the boy evokes Pan, a figure of untamed nature and sexuality. The witch herself is a potent symbol, embodying female power and transgression. Such imagery is not confined to the Renaissance. The fear and fascination with witches have roots in antiquity. These symbols reappear across cultures and epochs, from medieval folklore to modern literature. The collective unconscious seems to continually resurrect these figures, revealing our ongoing struggle with primal fears and desires. It reflects a psychological landscape where the boundaries between the natural and supernatural blur.