Artist: Hans Memling
Title: Hell
Date: 1485
Medium: Oil on wood
Dimensions: 22 x 14 cm
Hans Memling was a German painter who lived in Flanders and
worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish
painting From the 1460s
until the end of his life he became one of the leading artists, painting both
portraits and religious works, using the
style he learned in his youth from his masters. Art critic Laura Cummings states
it best, "The image shows a Hell beast Man as well as woman, devil as well as dragon, dog and bird,
this vicious critter is dancing on the damned as they burn in eternal hell
fire. Memling heaps up the horror, so that the inferno broils within the jaws of
a colossal fish and the demon holds a banner emphatically denying the
possibility of hope: "In hell there is no redemption'." The scene is
part of a larger altarpiece intended to frighten 15th-century churchgoers into
far better behavior. This piece falls perfectly in place here. This image was
used throughout time to force people to live a better lifestyle through fear of
damnation. Those who set their eyes upon this image were fearful of their own
fate.
No comments:
Post a Comment