Sidonia von Borcke (1548–1620, also spelled Sidonie von Bork, Borke, or Borken). Pomeranian noblewoman who was tried and executed for witchcraft in the city of Stettin (today Szczecin, Poland). In posthumous legends, she is depicted as a femme fatale, and she has entered English literature as Sidonia the Sorceress.
In 1849 Oscar Wilde's mother, Jane Wilde, translated into English the Gothic romance Sidonia von Bork, die Klosterhexe, written by Wilhelm Meinhold and published in 1848. This English translation achieved a popularity in Great Britain that was unmatched by any other German book in British literary history. Especially in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, enthusiasm for Sidonia as a Medusa-type femme fatale was widespread. Several members created paintings based on the novel, the most famous being Sidonia Von Bork and Clara Von Bork by Burne-Jones in 1860.
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Portrait of a Lady by Adriaen Thomasz Key (the sitter has been identificated as Sidonia von Borcke by Polish art historian Marcin Latka)
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| Sidonia von Borcke in her youth and old age (artist unknown, after Lucas Cranach the Elder) |
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