According to apocryphal texts, Christ visited Limbo after his death on the cross to redeem Adam and the righteous. This story offered artists throughout the centuries the opportunity to confront good and evil. This remarkable episode also fascinated Ensor. In his etching, Christ is willingly led by two devils before Satan's throne. The artist gave his own version of the story in the elaborate title with fantasised names. The print is a simplified version of the drawing of the same name from 1886 (Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 7660). Ensor treated the same theme in the print "Christ descends into hell", also created in 1895 (inv. 1998-B-103).
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | The Devils Dzitts and Hihanox Leading Christ to Hell |
| Date | 1895 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signatures (names) bottom left: Ensor |
| signatures (names) bottom right: James Ensor | |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| inscription on the reverse: 6 / Les diables Dzitts et Hihanox conduisant le Christ aux enfers / D.88 / 90 | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-90 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-90 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4120/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300055874
religious symbolism
AAT
300056485 fantastic art AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11D
Christ
Iconclass
11K devil(s) and demons Iconclass 11K2 devils in the form of (fabulous) animals Iconclass 11T hell and purgatory Iconclass 13B3131 flying on broomstick, pitchfork, trident ~ witches' sabbath Iconclass 25F9 mis-shapen animals; monsters Iconclass 73 New Testament Iconclass 73D9 Christ in the underworld, harrowing of hell, Christ in Limbo, 'descensus ad inferos', 'Anastasis' Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT historicism (theory) AAT |
| Henri Leys, Henri de Braekeleer, James Ensor / Loys Delteil. - Paris : Chez l'Auteur, 1925 (nr. 88) |
| James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 90) |
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