The skull of Jean Delvaux

Original illustration

Nib and ink on Arches cotton paper

300gsm / 140lb

9.5cm / 3.8in (picture size)

11.5cm / 4.6in (frame size)

2021

Housed in a beautiful Florentine wooden gilt and enamel round frame

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About:

Jean Delvaux (died 2 April 1595) was a Belgian Roman Catholic monk and an alleged witch.

In 1595, a great scandal occurred among the monks at an Abbey at Stavelot in the Ardennes. The monk Jean Delvaux claimed, that at the age of fifteen, he met a man in the woods who promised him riches if he followed him, which he had done, and he had given him two marks on his shoulders. He told him to become a monk at Stavelot, and promised that he would become an abbot. He had become a monk, and discovered many magicians among priests and monks. He said, that they were nine convents of wizards in the Ardennes, who gathered on the nights with demons to eat, dance and have sex.

Delvaux was arrested by the order of the Prince Bishop of Liége. An investigation was made. On the way to Stavelot, the carriage of the commission broke down, and Delvaux claimed that a demon had destroyed it. Delvaux was accused of being insane. Until the 10 January 1597, many people were questioned in connection to his accusations, both men and women from the public as well as people from the church. He was tortured and then turned over to the secular authorities. He was judged guilty, with the use of the Bible passage Exodus 22:18, and sentenced to death. As he was remorseful and asked for mercy, he was executed through decapitation and not by burning.