Illustrated Book : ''The Bloody Countess'' 2009
Written by Alejandra Pizarnik.
Illustrated by Santiago Caruso.
Client: Libros del Zorro Rojo (Spain)
www.librosdelzorrorojo.com
Art Director: Sebastián García Schnetzer.
«Sitting on her throne, the countess watches
people under torture, she listens to their screams.
Her ancient, vile servant women are silent figures
who bring fire, knives, needles, manacles; who
torture young girls, then later bury them. Like
the manacles or the knives, these old hags are
instruments of possession. This dark ceremony
has but a single, silent spectator.»
A. Pizarnik
Accused of murdering six hundred young girls,
Erzsebet Bathory is one of the most sinister criminals
in history. In her castle in the Carpathians, at the end
of the 17th century, the countess crouches over her
victims to bleed them to death and steal their youth.
Her evil, fascinating legend has survived over the ages.
The Bloody Countess is one of the key works by
Alejandra Pizarnik. Its pages are a masterful portrait
of sadism and madness, which the prints of the artist
Santiago Caruso recreate to the point of perfection.
The aim of this book is to show the madness
and the inner alchemy of Bathory, in about 26 images.
These images explore the absolute power, the torture,
the desire of eternity, the hungry soul of the Human.
The Technique is ink over a stucated paper, later scratched.
The color is acrylic in red.