Bl medieval manuscripts blog
Along the bottom of the pages, a procession of demons escorts the souls of the sinful to Hell.ĭetail of a bas-de-page scene showing a demon carrying souls to Hell in a wheelbarrow, from the ‘Taymouth Hours’, England (London?), second quarter of the 14 th century, Yates Thompson MS 13, f. 40rĪ personal favourite of ours comes not from an Apocalypse manuscript but from a Book of Hours. Hell-mouths were commonly depicted in illuminated Apocalypse manuscripts, swallowing up the souls of the damned, while God, the angels and the souls of the saved look on from the safety of Heaven.ĭetail of a miniature showing the Last Judgement, from the ‘Queen Mary Apocalypse’, England (London or East Anglia), first quarter of the 14th century, Royal MS 19 B XV, f. Though mostly destroyed at the Reformation, examples have survived, particularly in East Anglia, some of them ironically protected and preserved by the very whitewash that was meant to obliterate them.ĭetail of a miniature showing the Last Judgment, from the ‘Abingdon Apocalypse’, England, third quarter of the 13th century, Add MS 42555, f. St John’s visions of the end of the world and the Last Judgement were frequently depicted in ‘Doom paintings’ on the walls and rood-screens of medieval churches. It was therefore visible to ordinary medieval people, for whom owning an illuminated manuscript was an unimaginable luxury, and the prospect of suffering an eternity in Hell an imminent possibility.
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It appears – most commonly as a hairy, fanged beast – in stained glass windows and wall- and panel-paintings as well. The rather horrifying motif of the Hell-mouth was not confined to medieval manuscripts. The unusual depiction of a Hell-mouth as a serpent reinforces this narrative connection as well as Lucifer’s agency in both events. The fall of the rebellious angels from Heaven, illustrated here in the Old English Hexateuch, foreshadows the later fall of man. The portal to Hell in Doom has an obvious antecedent in medieval art: the Hell-mouth, a representation of Hell as a gaping, often flaming, animalistic maw. You, the sole survivor, must fight your way back to Earth, with just an assorted array of guns and a chainsaw (yes, really) at your disposal to fight off the assembled hordes of demons.įull-page miniature showing the fall of the rebel angels, from the Old English Hexateuch, England, second quarter of the 11th century, Cotton MS Claudius B IV, f. While experimenting with teleportation technology on Mars, some scientists inadvertently open a portal to Hell – whoops! (Guess this is why we have risk assessments…). The plot follows the typical ‘scientific experiment gone awry’ trajectory.
This has inspired us at the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog to explore depictions of Hell, past and present.Īficionados of 1990s video games will likely have fond memories of Doom, id Software’s seminal first-person shooter. Last week, the Getty Museum ( tweeted this image from our Digitised Manuscripts site to highlight that 13th February was marked in some medieval calendars as the day on which Hell was created (to which anyone who has forgotten to buy a Valentine’s Day present can surely attest). The following should remove any doubt on the matter!ĭetail of a miniature showing the punishment of cardinal sinners in Hell, from the ‘Divine Comedy’ by Dante Alighieri, Italy (Tuscany), 1444-c. Followers of this blog may harbour a suspicion that we possess an unhealthy interest in scenes of violence and torture in medieval manuscripts.