Ottaviano Dandini Florence circa 1706 - 1740

Although rare, the depiction of stregonerie, or scenes of witchcraft, was developed as a subgenre in the 17^th Century by a number of artists.  It had already been examined earlier by Northern and Italian painters alike (Durer and Dosso, for example), but superstition and religious authorities alike had kept such paintings from finding a wide audience.  But in the 17^th Century, while these cultural forces were still in effect, witches and magic became a slightly more common, if still particular, subject for the fine arts.

In Florence, Salvator Rosa had painted a number of such subjects during his sojourn there (1640-49), to great acclaim, and other artists had begun to imitate him.  Dandini must have known Rosa’s paintings which were hanging in a number of distinguished  collections (such as the one painted for Bartolommeo Corsini), as well as other such paintings by other Florentine artists (for example Alessandro Rosi).¹  In fact, the present canvas appears to have been painted as a pendant to a painting depicting the Summoning of Demons by the artist's father Pier Dandini (see literature below, p. 72).

1 A Scene of Witchcraft (now in a private collection) was recorded in the collection of Lorenzo Ginori in 1710, see E. Acanfora, Alessandro Rosi, Florence 1994, p. 72, cat. no. 25, illus., p. 133