"Yvonne Owens writes art history, emotional histories, philosophy of art, and creative critical studies. Her publications to date have mainly focused on representations of women and the gendering of evil ""defect"" in classical humanist discourses, cross-referencing these figures to historical art, theology, literature, and the sciences. She also writes cultural criticism, exploring contemporary post-humanist discourses in art, literature and new media. She is currently exploring the intersections among science, the sacred and the arts."
This is an exceptional study. In the crowded field of witch research it stands out for many reasons; the breadth of material employed, the deep knowledge of primary and secondary sources, and the arrangement of an amazing wealth of scholarship around one artist, Hans Baldung Grien. * Gerhild Scholz Williams, Washington University in St. Louis, USA * Yvonne Owens has brilliantly overcome an important deficit in our contemporary understanding of Baldung's scenes of witchcraft. One of their many puzzling features is a ubiquity of fumes, the origins and nature of which are made deliberately obscure. The nature, aim, and terrifying scope of this specialty are the themes of Owens' remarkable book. * Joseph Leo Koerner, Thomas Professor of History of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, USA *