''Witch Hill (The Salem Martyr)'' is a painting, of a convicted witch, soon to be executed, by hanging, during the Salem witch trials. In her eyes, the look of pain is obvious, of an innocent who is powerless to change her

fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

On the painting

Thomas Noble posed a young woman as the condemned witch, who worked as a librarian in the

Cincinnati library Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) is a public library system in the United States. In addition to its main library location in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, CHPL operates 40 regional and branch locations throughout Hamilt ...

. She was a

lineal descendant A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by in ...

of a woman who was hanged as a witch in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts; see Salem witch trials. The painting's frame is made of heavy walnut. It was made for the canvas by an English woodcarver, one

William H. Fry William Henry Fry (5 February 1830 – 26 December 1929) was an English-American wood carver and gilding, gilder of the Aesthetic Movement. Born in Bath, Somerset, Fry moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1849''1910 United States Federal Census'' to ...

. At the 1869

Cincinnati Industrial Exposition Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, the painting won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

Thomas Satterwhite Noble Thomas Satterwhite Noble (May 29, 1835 – April 27, 1907) was an American painter as well as the first head of the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati, Ohio. Biography Noble was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and raised on a plantation wher ...

used the Salem witch trials for powerful moral theme. As of 2022, the painting is on display at the

New York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

References

External links and references

One reference about the painting

An artnet reference

1869 paintings Salem witch trials 1853 paintings New-York Historical Society {{Salemwitchtrials-stub

On the painting

See also

References

External links and references