Having permanently scarred some eyes last week, I
thought this time we’d stick to good old-fashioned drug-trip-inspired gore with
a touch of irreverence. I present to
you the “Descent into Limbo” or “Harrowing of Hell,” by Pieter Huys, whose work with squirrel bagpipes and sky jousting we've looked at previously.
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So Jesus comes down to free all the souls, wearing his
superman cape and underwear. Most of
the souls seem to be enduring some typical gnashing-of-teeth stuff, but a few
of them seem to be in a pretty bad way.
We’ve got a guy literally hacked limb from limb by an angry
land shark with a meat cleaver. Also a
couple others are being drowned in a bucket by a mutant Chinese dragon with
breasts. There are at least three legs
in there, so maybe they’re actually making people soup, and the meat-cleaver
guy is just preparing the ingredients.
Next to the soup kitchen, a naked man is being held in one
demon’s lap while another writes something up.
Possibly it is Vogon poetry.
Also there is a giant mutant rat-frog trying to get in on the action.
Moving up, a bunch of people are hanging out in a giant
maw. One guy seems to be doing a tribal
dance with a torch, while another does hell’s version of a beer bong. A third just got off the bong and is vomiting
off the side. So this is actually the
Frat Party from Hell.
Elsewhere, in what appears to be a forgotten animation frame from Monty Python, a group of bird/egg/man/animals is being too
manly to stop and ask for directions.
One of their helmets has a candle on it, for when hellfire just isn’t
bright enough to light the way.
Hmm…giant bird snake charmer…possibly on a horse? He’s got a man-leg in his saddlebag for a
snack on the road. Unlike the last
group, he knows how easy it is to get lost around here.
Here we have the world’s saddest Christmas tree. Devilmas tree? It’s like the Charlie Brown tree, but with bottled human despair.
Finally, possibly my favorite part: Hell’s Quiddich.
You fly on fire-breathing dragons instead of broomsticks,
and have to keep your assigned human body on board. Also you have a gun.
Well, one of them has a gun; the other one seems to be armed with a
plunger. It works for the Daleks,
though, so who am I to question its fearsome potential?
Funny you saw it as a land shark. I thought it was a highwayman wearing a 3-cornered hat with most of his face covered. Bare male buttocks seems to be this artist's preoccupation. Maybe he enjoyed the feeling of anticipation before getting a spanking.
ReplyDeleteIt is a popular motif here. I suppose a spanking is one thing he might be in anticipation of...
DeleteWhen I saw that last picture my first thought was "Isn't it bad enough they're in hell? Does he really have to spank that guy while sitting on a giant fish?"
ReplyDeleteI know! Apparently hell is all about pain and humiliation in the most bizarre forms possible. Fish-based corporal punishment being fairly bizarre...
DeleteA magnificent critique indeed but I must confess that I misread your first paragraph and had to swiftly change my mind. The one that I had been wearing became quite soiled when I misread "... by Pieter Huys, whose work, Squirrel with bagpipes ..." etc etc. That led me to some quite inappropriate visions of musical wildlife that were hard to clear away.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I don't think that this depicts Limbo, it seems more reminiscent of Whitgift Comprehensive School, Grimsby. In particular, the main sports hall during winter season arrangements. Perhaps, as Gorilla Bananas mentions, it is the sufficiency of pert masculine buttocks that builds the sporting association.
I do seem to recall school feeling a lot like hell. Especially with the strict punishment regime of displaying students nude, hung from the trees outside in glass cages.
DeleteIs Jesus flying down in a magical egg? This must be where the traditions of Easter came from.
ReplyDeleteWow! That makes sense of that whole bizarre tradition.
DeleteI never know what to make of this guy... it's just so much to take in all at once! Every time you look at it, some new piece of crap catches your eye. Like, is that a bar inside a giant cracked eggshell? They say you can't get water in hell... so you probably cant get a decent Jack and Coke either, I suppose.
ReplyDelete"I paid for Jack... but it tastes like Early Times. I knew I should have just hit the frat party, instead."
Ha! You may not be able to get a decent Jack and Coke...but I bet they serve those drinks that come with liquid nitrogen in them. And maybe a few with a nice twist of acid!
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