De Nuce Maga by Vincent Proce

Submission 1,858

Overview

De Nuce Maga, also known as Naked Woman Hugging Tree Monster, is a painting by artist Vincent Proce that depicts a tree-like monster or demon embracing a naked woman. The painting is inspired by Italian witches and folklore, in particular, stories about a sacred walnut tree on the Sabato River in Benevento that witches were said to perform rituals and cast spells around. The painting was shared by Proce in late May 2024 and became the subject of memes over the following months, particularly on X / Twitter, including memes about women desiring monsters resembling the walnut tree creature.

History

On May 23rd, 2024, artist Vincent Proce posted a painting titled De Nuce Maga to his Instagram^[1] and X^[2] pages (both @vproceart), garnering over 5,000 likes on the former and 11,000 likes and 1,600 reposts on the latter in just over a month (shown below, censored). The painting depicts a tree monster embracing a naked witch, his mouth agape, showcasing his sharp teeth.

In the description, Proce claims the painting is inspired by Italian witches and folklore. In particular, he mentions the "illustrious magic walnut tree," like a reference to the legend of the Benevento walnut tree, a supposed walnut tree in Benevento, Italy where witches and pagans would congregate for the witches' sabbath, pagan rituals and cast spells under. This legend led to further folkloric stories linking witches to walnut trees.^[3] An article on the subject published by Agricorti^[4] reads:

"The belief that witches liked congregating around the walnut tree for their Sabbaths was widespread throughout Italy: in Rome, legend has it that the church of Santa Maria del Popolo was built on the site of a walnut tree around which thousands of devils danced in the middle of the night. Even in Bologna and Pescia in Tuscany, popular sayings claimed that witches used to confabulate or sleep under the walnut trees. The Benevento walnut tree became the witch tree par excellence since it was located near the river Sabato (originally Sabatus). The association of Sabbath with witches sprang up spontaneously from the name of this river."

Online Presence

Memes

The painting became the subject of memes and reactions in the weeks following Proce's post. On May 24th, 2024, the Facebook^[5] page Smol Weeb Gf shared the painting, labeling the witch "Caretaker gf" and the monster "Traumatized bf," garnering over 25,000 reactions and 8,900 shares in a month (shown below, left).

On July 4th, X^[6] user @autocanceller posted the painting, writing, "this is what women want," garnering over 129,000 likes in four days (shown below, right).

Later that day, X^[7] user @earth2myaa quoted @autocanceller's post, writing, "all I can think of is 'dude is that black face?' 😭😭😭," referencing a scene from Smiling Friends season one episode four where a monster that somewhat resembles the monster in the artwork is accused of doing blackface at a Halloween party.^[8] The post gained over 132,000 likes in four days (shown below).

On July 5th, 2024, former adult actress Mia Khalifa posted the painting to X^[9] without any further context, garnering over 19,000 likes in three days. That same day, X^[10] user @yearncel posted the painting, writing, "Piece Of Shit Nothing Incel Retard Freak – Vincent Proce (2024)," garnering over 8,900 likes in three days.

On July 6th, Redditor u/Turbulent_Item_5791 posted the art to the subreddit /r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis,^[11] asking for suggestions for books that give off the same feeling as the painting, garnering over 2,200 upvotes in two days. The post was screenshotted and shared to /r/bookscirclejerk^[12] later that day, titled, "You all need to be on r/booksthat feellikethis. Top quality jerk material over there," garnering over 270 upvotes in two days.