In a recent installment of The Medieval Review, Diana Laulainen-Schein praised Linda C. Hults’ The Witch as Muse: Art, Gender, and Power in Early Modern Europe:
The Witch as Muse by Linda Hults is not
simply an art history book with an intriguing theme; it is an
exceptionally well-written monograph produced by art historian who has
spent over a decade thinking about her subject.
But Laulainen-Schein also warned that such an "erudite and complex" book is "not for the faint of heart." (Scholars of art history, witchcraft, and early modern studies, we dare you to read this book!)
Within each chapter, Hults provides a concise yet informative and
essential review of the social and political milieus in which the
artists worked. These details allow Hults to place her discussions of
various artists in both the larger historical and the more personal
individual contexts in which the art of witchcraft was produced. With
those frameworks in place, she moves on to detailed and fascinating
analyses of individual works of art; these analyses are what truly mark
The Witch as Muse as a work of distinction.
The complete review is available on line at The Medieval Review website.
