Infernal topography : the evolution of hell imagery in the Middle Ages
Date
1991
Authors
Elliott, Janis
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Abstract
Pictorial images of Christian hell began in the eighth century with scenes of the Anastasis, in which Christ tramples the personification of Hades during his descent to the underworld. From the ninth century on, hell occurs in psalter illustrations and apocalyptic cycles, and most frequently in Last Judgment scenes. The impetus for the invention of the Anastasis scene, and for the expansion of the older pictorial traditions of the Last Judgment and Apocalypse to include specific images of hell, was the Church's decision in the late seventh century to promote the use of pictorial images in the struggle against heretical groups. With this decree the medieval imagination was set loose to develop an infernal topography, This thesis is a survey of that topography from its eighth century inception until the turn of the fourteenth century. The preĀ-Christian descriptions of the underworld and the documented medieval visions of hell which constitute the first two chapters of the thesis provide a literary framework for the pictorialization of the Christian hell, Although it is impossible to link every image with a textual source, and indeed the influences are reciprocal, an attempt has been made throughout the subsequent chapters to show the connections between image and word. For example, the influence of The Aeneid is apparent in the ninth century Trier Apocalypse and may be responsible for the horned Satan and the four fiery rivers of hell in Giotto's Last Judgment in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua.
The third chapter describes the early development of the Anastasis and the first few centuries of Last Judgment and Apocalypse scenes. Experimental stages in the iconography of these scenes can be found in Carolingian psalter illustrations, In particular the Stuttgart and Utrecht Psalters play pivotal roles in the evolution of hell imagery, Prototypes for the Byzantine Last Judgment appear in the Utrecht Psalter (fol. 53v and 84v), and the Stuttgart Psalter (fol. 10v) provides many infernal models for later hell imagery.
Chapter IV discusses three major developments in Romanesque art from different regions: the English mouth of hell; the Byzantine Last Judgment; and the Last Judgment portal sculptures of the French pilgrimage routes. The Great Reform and the Crusades were responsible for the wide dissemination of many Romanesque images. To establish the context in which they appeared, a summary of important historical and political developments of the Romanesque period has been included.
The Tuscan Last Judgment scenes of the thirteenth century rely more on Byzantine and Roman influences than on contemporary developments in Europe, Nevertheless, the possible influence of the sculptures of Conques on the Florence Baptistery Last Judgment are discussed along with its Byzantine influences. A comparison between the Baptistery mosaic and Giotto's Last Judgment at Padua marks the transition from Medieval to Renaissance art and concludes the study of the topography of hell in the Middle Ages.
A summary of significant points in the evolution of hell imagery concludes the thesis. Examples are given, from the fourteenth century B.C. to the thirteenth century A.D., of the concept of hell as the negative counterpart of heaven and earth. Particularly strong themes, like the mouth of hell, are traced throughout their courses, breaking through the confines of chronological chapters. Beginning about 2000 B.C. and terminating in the first years of the fourteenth century A.D., the literary and pictorial manifestations of the concept of hell surveyed in this thesis reveal the traditions and resources which were available to Dante and Giotto in refining the infernal topography.