Wednesday, 7 September 2016

The Devil and His Servants: Demonic Illustrations From 18th Century Occult Book

I've been searching for loads of reference images and inspiration, collecting things that I think are relevant to my research. The Wellcome Library website includes the 'Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros' in it's archives, dating from around 1775. Written in German and Latin, it includes 31 water colour illustrations of demons, and three pages of magical and cabalistic signs and sigils etc.



I read that the illustrations are a mix of Greco-Roman mythical monsters (chimeras such as Cerberus and Hydra). Phoenician gods (Astarte / Astaroth), Biblical devils (Beelzebub, Satan) amongst other creations.

DangerousMinds.net :

"With the warning "NOLI ME TANGERE" ("Do Not Touch") on its cover, the compendium can be seen as a last attempt by those of faith to instil fear among the superstitious. After all, the Compendium Artis Magicae was produced during the decade of revolutions (American and French) and in the Age of Enlightenment - when reason, science and the power of the individual dominated, and the first stirrings of industry were about to change Europe and the world. The horrendous witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries were long banished and the last execution in England for witchcraft took place in 1716 (1727 in Scotland, 1750 in Austria, 1782 in Switzerland), while the practice of witchcraft ceased to be a criminal offence across Europe during the century (England 1735) - all of which makes this Compendium Artis Magicae all the more bizarre.

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