PEM in an Hour
4. Examination of a Witch
Salem is known around the world for the tragic events of 1692. Where did you first hear about the Salem Witch Trials? Either through the history you were taught in school, through playwright Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, or in recent movies or TV shows? Here we have a large canvas painted by Tompkins Harrison Matteson in 1853. It’s called the Examination of a Witch. A woman’s bare back is scrutinized in a courtroom for signs of witchcraft, her fate hanging in the balance. You can learn more about this time when Salem residents turned on one another in our ongoing Salem Witch Trials exhibition in another gallery.
Let’s keep moving through the gallery, past a bust of George Washington. Go around the corner and look left to two chairs.