El círculo mágico

Waterhouse painted this in 1886, when Victorian Britain was fascinated by the occult and by strong, self-possessed women, and he gave it both in one figure. A sorceress bends to trace a burning circle in the dirt with her wand, sealing off a patch of ground. In her other hand she holds a crescent sickle that ties her to the moon and to Hecate, the old goddess of witchcraft. Look at what the circle keeps out. The land beyond it is bare and gray, crowded with ravens and a frog, the traditional companions of witches. Inside, where she stands, flowers bloom. She takes up almost the whole tall canvas, calm and absorbed, ignoring us completely. The Royal Academy crowd loved it, and the Tate bought it that same year for 650 pounds.