Witchcraft

== Witches in art and literature ==
{{further|Witch (archetype)#In art and literature|List of fictional witches}}
[[File:Albrecht Dürer, Witch Riding on a Goat, c. 1500-1501, NGA 6674.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Albrecht Dürer]] {{circa|1500}}: Witch riding backwards on a goat]]
Witches have a long history of being depicted in art, although most of their earliest artistic depictions seem to originate in Early Modern Europe, particularly the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Many scholars attribute their manifestation in art as inspired by texts such as {{Lang|la|Canon Episcopi}}, a demonology-centered work of literature, and {{Lang|la|Malleus Maleficarum}}, a "witch-craze" manual published in 1487, by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simons |first=Patricia |date=September 2014 |title=The Incubus and Italian Renaissance art |journal=Source: Notes in the History of Art |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1086/sou.34.1.23882368 |jstor=23882368 |s2cid=191376143}}</ref> Witches in fiction span a wide array of characterizations. They are typically, but not always, female, and generally depicted as either [[villain]]s or [[heroine]]s.<ref name=HuttonCunning>{{Cite journal |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |date=2018-03-16 |title=Witches and Cunning Folk in British Literature 1800–1940 |url=https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/penn-state-university-press/witches-and-cunning-folk-in-british-literature-1800-1940-btH3RCNTQp? |journal=Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=27 |doi=10.5325/preternature.7.1.0027 |hdl=1983/c91bdc34-80d8-49f6-92df-9147f2bef535 |s2cid=194795666 |issn=2161-2188 |access-date=2021-05-18 |archive-date=2021-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518044333/https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/penn-state-university-press/witches-and-cunning-folk-in-british-literature-1800-1940-btH3RCNTQp |url-status=live|hdl-access=free }}</ref>