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

Vault (northwest section, detail)

1240-1300
Mosaic
Baptistery, Florence

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.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.