A horned Witch (Circa,18th Çentury)

Unknown Artist · 1700-01-01T00:00:00Z

A horned Witch (Circa,18th Çentury) by Unknown Artist . The painting is a French School painting often identified as a portrait of Katharina Kepler, the mother of astronomer Johannes Kepler, though this identification is debated and the true subject is unknown. While the painting is often attributed to the 18th century, it may have been created earlier, around the 17th century, and is sometimes mistakenly associated with the subject's witchcraft accusations from the early 1600s. The figure is a woman with horns, often cited as a portrait of Katharina Kepler (c. 1540–1622), who was accused of witchcraft in Germany. Said 'witch,' Katharina, was accused in 1615 by a neighbor, Ursula Reinbold, whose family had a history of disagreements with the Keplers. Reinbold's accusations led the Vogt of her town to issue an arrest warrant for Kepler on several dozen charges of witchcraft, which was no picnic: in 1615 alone, at least 5 women in Katharina's home town had been burned at the stake for witchcraft. Katharina was not only described as being an outspoken and somewhat snarky woman, she reportedly made herbal medicines for herself and neighbors who asked. Combine that with her age--about 70 years old at the time she was accused--and you have the perfect recipe for a witch accusation. The portrait sitter is also sometimes identified as Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois, by an unknown artist. Françoise Marie was a child of Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan. Françoise Marie was legitimized at the age of four, and although she was more fortunate than Katharina in respect to accusations of witchcraft, her mother did not escape becoming entangled in rumors of dealing with the dark arts. Uploaded only with historical and preservation purposes .