Pierre Tchekhoff // Trapped in Circe’s Palace: bestial forms and metamorphosis in Early Modern depictions of the enchantress
This project is part of a soon-to-be completed doctoral dissertation focusing on the depiction of magic in Early Modern Art. Its goal is to offer a comparative analysis of several hundred artworks based on the study of the most important treaties and books of magic of the witch trials period. One chapter of this dissertation is dedicated to Circe’s palace, notably in Genovese art with Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Roman art with Angelo Caroselli and Napolitan art with Giacomo del Po. 
It will aim to show how theological discourse on the magical manipulation of the senses has shaped the depiction of palaces, ruins, grottos, and primordial gardens inhabited by sorceresses, their servants, and their victims.
[Caption: Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg, Ulysse au Palais de Circé, Los Angeles, J.Paul Getty Museum, huile sur toile, 88.9x121,6 cm, 1667. Public Domain.]