The Fall of the Damned (1470) was painted by the early Netherlandish painter Dieric Bouts. It depicts the torturous journey of souls down in Hell through a landscape of rocky cliffs, fire and demons. Bodies are gripped by unearthly beasts; winged bats carry figures through the sky and drop them into the dark waters below, reptilian monsters hold bodies down, and snake-like creatures sink their jaws into arms, legs and heads. On the far left, a cave of trapped souls scream and reach out, and behind, a spike wheel impales yet more bodies.
The painting was produced as the right panel of a triptych that was commissioned for the town hall of Louvain, Belgium in 1468. The left panel, The Ascension of the Elect, also survives and depicts the mirror opposite of this scene — souls are led by angels dressed in fine robes through a garden of rich greenery and carried up to Heaven through clouds in the sky. The central panel of the triptych has been lost to time, but the side panels are on display together at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, France.
Bout’s Fall of the Damned would go on to influence the more famous work The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, which was painted shortly after in 1490-1510.
CMYK Risograph, A3
