Hieronymus Bosch
In contrast to the artistic and theological tradition at that time, Bosch does not dedicate the central panel of The Last Judgment to a depiction of Christ as Judge of the World with the Archangel Gabriel dividing the good and evil souls to send them to paradise or hell. Bosch’s Christ as Judge of the World is set on a rainbow near the top of the central panel, surrounded by the twelve Apostles, as well as the Virgin Mary to the left and John the Baptist to the right.
A tiny patch of light at the upper left corner indicates the entrance to the heavenly paradise, only attainable for a very few souls. The vast majority of humanity must face punishment for their sins from demons and devils.
On the central panel, Bosch depicts the punishments for the seven deadly sins in detail. Many scenes contain demons, hybrid creatures, and devils. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that the punishments for sin were linked to the part of the person committing the sin. So, at the bottom left, a red devil holding a green barrel is forcing a naked man guilty of gluttony to drink a liquid—which is most likely urine—flowing into the barrel through a funnel. Many scenes show sinners impaled, sawn in half, or tormented in other ways.
Exactly one week ago we presented the first part of the triptych. Don't forget to check our archive! Everything is thanks to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. <3
P.S. Bosch placed many weird creatures in his paintings, here we gathered creepy owls.