Émile-Antoine Bayard (1837–1891), "La Danse du Sabbat" dated around 1870. This image is a wood engraving titled La Danse du Sabbat (Dance of the Sabbath). The artwork depicts a witches' sabbath, featuring a horned figure (often identified as a horned god or the devil) standing on a platform with torches upraised, while witches and demons dance in a frenzied ritual below. Publication: The illustration originally appeared in the book History of Magic by Paul Christian (pseudonym for Jean-Baptiste Pitois), published in Paris in 1870. Style and Technique The piece is a quintessential example of 19th-century wood engraving. In this technique, a design is incised on the transverse section (end-grain) of a hardwood block, allowing for the extremely fine, detailed line work and dramatic light-and-shadow effects seen in this scene.
Émile-Antoine Bayard
"The Sabbath Dance" (La Danse du Sabbat) (1870)
wood engraving | 20 x 28.7 cm (7.9 x 11.3 in)
Book: Histoire de la magie (History of Magic) 1870 Paris
#ArtSky #Bayard
