MOSAIC ARTIST, Italian
(active 1240-1300 in Florence)

Vault (northwest section, bottom register)

1240-1300
Mosaic
Baptistery, Florence

The northwest section presents a vision of hell as a single continuous panorama. Devils of both tiny and monstrous size are taking charge of the resurrected souls and driving them in a great throng toward the pit of the inferno. They are being attacked and tortured by serpent-, frog-, and lizard-like creatures and diligent, multicolored servants of the devil, some of whom are bringing new offerings to a clearly insatiable Lucifer enthroned in the centre of the underworld. The face of the prince of hell is a fierce grotesque; huge horns curve upward out of his bare skull, and voracious serpents wind out of his ass's ears and his backside to gorge on the newly arrived souls. Other punishments are pictured as well.