El mal, imaginado por el gótico

Abstract

The devil is features on doorways, capitals and murals in Gothic churches. His image either progresses on from Romanesque precedents to the most monstrous of depictions involving bat wings and faces in impossible parts of the anatomy or it returns to a more human form similar to that of the fallen angel, marking an about-turn in the long-feared representation of the Enemy. Hell turns more complex and within ancient Romanesque jaws we find visions replete with rooms where tortures are dealt out according to the sin committed ecclesiastic infractions are confused with more judicial crimes and the forms of punishments reminder to offenders of those applied in the period. From the xv century onwards, this monstrous representation of Lucifer started...