The Night-Hag Visiting Lapland Witches

A hunched, wild-haired hag in a dark cloak crouches over a pale, sleeping child lying on a stone slab. A raised knife enters from the lower right, and in the upper center a pale winged figure hovers above the shadowy scene. Figures with torches or staves loom in the dim background, while the strong light falls on the child and the hag's face.

Look closer: A small winged figure is seen in the dim left background, partly lost in shadow.

Artist

Henry Fuseli

Date

1796

Medium

Oil on canvas

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

4000 × 3270 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Bequest of Lillian S. Timken, by exchange, and Victor Wilbour Memorial, The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment, Marquand and Charles B. Curtis Funds, 1980