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Figures in Hell
Figures in Hell
Figures in Hell

Figures in Hell

Artist (Netherlandish, active 1450-1516)
Dateca. 1500-1525
MediumOil on panel
DimensionsPainting: 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 in. (21.6 x 15.9 cm)
Frame: 11 1/8 x 8 5/8 x 1 in. (28.3 x 21.9 x 2.5 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Thomas Morgan Roberts in memory of his parents Emily Allen Roberts and James Thomas Roberts
Object number2012.26.13
Commentary

An unknown follower of Hieronymous Bosch has borrowed the fantastical figural inventions from Bosch’s panel of hell from The Garden of Earthly Delights (Museo del Prado), but recontextualized it as the ‘Vision of Tundale.’ In this popular medieval tale, an angel guides the soul of an unconscious knight through heaven and hell; upon waking the newly-pious knight recounts what he witnessed. In the painting, a man is swallowed by a bird on a chamber pot, a pig dressed as a nun seduces a man into signing documents, civilization is on fire, and demons find retribution for sins in torture.

On View
Not on view
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