Some of the most terrifying supernatural imagery from centuries ago doesn’t feature demons and devils. Instead, it shows us what we did to people who were accused of witchcraft. Here are some terrifying visual records of how people imagined witches — and how they killed them.
Burning witches, 14th century
(via Wikimedia Commons)
A witch, a demon and a warlock fly towards a peasant woman with the aid of their broomsticks, c. 1400
(via Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Marginal decorations in Le champion des dames, by Martin Le France, 1451
(viaWikimedia Commons)
Detail of The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Hieronymus Bosch, between 1495 and 1515
(via Wikimedia Commons)
Witch Riding Backwards On A Goat, by Albrecht Dürer, c. 1500
(via Wikimedia Commons)
Three Witches beating a Devil on the ground, by Daniel Hopfer, early 16th century
(via Wikimedia Commons)
Witches, a woodcut by Hans Baldung, 1508
(via Wikimedia Commons)
Witch burning in Derenburg, Germany, 1555
(via Wikimedia Commons)
The portrait of Katharina Guldenmann, by an unknown painter in the 17th century. She was an alleged witch and the mother of Johannes Kepler
(via Markfrm)
The Witches’ Flight, by Francisco Goya, 1797
(via Wikimedia Commons)
The Witch of Endor raising The Spirit of Samuel, by William Blake, c. 1800
(via Wikimedia Commons)
Okabe, by Kuniyoshi Utagawa, c. 1844
(via Wikimedia Commons)
A witch on a wallaby by George Cruikshank, c. 1850
(via Getty Images/Hulton Archive)
Portrait of Mother Damnable, c. 1880
(via Wellcome Images)
The Wich No.1, a litograph by Joseph E. Baker, 1892
(via Wikimedia Commons)
The witch at a stake, by Hugo Simberg (1873-1917)
(via Wikimedia Commons)
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
_2.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}