Georg Pictorius of Villingen (c. 1500 – 1569) was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and an author of the

German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among Germany, German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and ...

. He became active as a physician from 1540 in

Ensisheim Ensisheim (; gsw-FR, Anze) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic languages, Germanic et ...

. In his book on

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, he condemns

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

, endorsing the

witch-trial A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

s of his time: "if the witches are not burned, the number of these furies swells up in such an immense sea that no one could live safe from their spells and charms." (Midelfort p. 59) His gynecological ''Frauenzimmer'' gives cosmetic advice for women, from the suppression of unpleasant scents to the shaping of their bosom (Walter, p. 372f.) works: *1532

Theologia mythologica {{cleanup lang, date=May 2022 ''Theologia mythologica'' is a 1532 book by Georg Pictorius. It was one of the first treatises of Classical mythology in the German Renaissance. Pictorius interprets the Greek pantheon as allegory, e.g. Cybele as t ...

*''Isagoge'', the fourth book in the collection published as the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy by

Henry Cornelius Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's ''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' published in 1533 drew ...

*1555 '' Lasz Büchlin'', on

bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily flu ...

*1560 '' Baderbüchlin'', on

balneotherapy Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic e ...

*''Von den Gattungen der Ceremonialmagie (Goetie)'' (Eng. ''Of the Kinds of

Ceremonial Magic Ceremonial magic (ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an ex ...

(

Goetia ''The Lesser Key of Solomon'', also known as ''Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis'' or simply ''Lemegeton'', is an anonymous grimoire on demonology. It was compiled in the mid-17th century, mostly from materials a couple of centuries older.''Lemegeto ...

)''), ed. ''

Das Kloster ''Das Kloster'' ("The Cloister"; full title ''Das Kloster. Weltlich und geistlich. Meist aus der ältern deutschen Volks-, Wunder-, Curiositäten-, und vorzugsweise komischen Literatur'' "The Cloister. Profane and sacred. Mostly from older German P ...

'' (1846)

References

*Tillmann Wertz, ''Georgius Pictorius (1500-1569/73). Leben und Werk eines oberrheinischen Arztes und Humanisten.'' Heidelberg: Palatina Verlag 2006. *Midelfort, H. C. Erik, ''Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundations'' (1972), . *Tilmann Walter, ''Unkeuschheit und Werk der Liebe: Diskurse über Sexualität am Beginn der Neuzeit in Deutschland'' (1998), . *Rachel Darmon : "Georgius Pictorius à la recherche d'un langage mythographique", in ''Acta Conventus Neo-latini Uppsaliensis. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Congress of Neo-latin Studies, Uppsala, 2009,'' dir. Astrid Steiner-Weber, Brill, 2012, p. 341-351. *Rachel Darmon : « La mythographie comme écriture de la ''variatio'' : métamorphoses poétiques de l’unité divine au XVI^e siècle », in ''La'' variatio''. L’aventure d’un principe d’écriture, de l’Antiquité au XXIe siècle.'' ''Actes du colloque tenu à l’Université de Clermont-Ferrand, 25-27 mars 2010'', dir. Hélène Vial, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2014, p. 429-439. *Rachel Darmon : « Figuration, fable et théologie dans les traités de mythographie », in ''Fable/ Figure. Récit, fiction, allégorisation à la Renaissance'', dir. Trung Tran, RHR : Revue de l’association d’études sur la Renaissance, l’Humanisme et la Réforme, n° 77, Lyon, décembre 2013, p. 31-50. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pictorius, Georg 1500s births 1569 deaths German gynaecologists German male writers Occult writers Witch hunters Witchcraft in Germany

See also

References