"Hell" (after Hieronymus Bosch)

1935

M.C. Escher after Hieronymus Bosch

Associated Names
M.C. Escher

Artist, Dutch, 1898 - 1972

Hieronymus Bosch

Artist After, Netherlandish, c. 1450 - 1516

This print shows several fantastical creatures, humans, and exaggerated body parts set against a dark, textured background. The shapes merge and overlap in a surreal fashion, featuring familiar objects such as boats, ladders, and musical instruments amidst abstract forms. In the center is the large, pale, hollow torso of a human. Its head is visible to the right, angled away from us, looking over its shoulder towards the opening at the bottom of its torso. The edges of the opening in its torso have cracks like an eggshell, and the two long limbs that stem from around its shoulders have branches like trees and end in two dark boats. Inside the hollow torso are several small people, some sitting around a table and another kneeling next to a small barrel. More people in the bottom left are climbing a ladder to get up into the hollow torso. On top of the large figure's head is a flat, circular platform upon which more figures walk, some human and some fantastical creatures, near a large teardrop-like shape. In the top left corner, there appears to be a knife blade emerging from two pale large ears, with more figures around it. The figures in the print are a wide range; some appear human-like, while others are large animals or strange, demonic creatures.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph

  • Credit Line

    Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 25.2 x 21 cm (9 15/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
    sheet: 35.3 x 29.5 cm (13 7/8 x 11 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1974.28.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bool 1981, no. 278


Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1997

  • M.C. Escher: A Centennial Tribute, National Gallery of Art, Washington; San Diego Museum of Art; The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, 1997-1999.

2000

  • "M.C. Escher", Knoxville Museum of Art, 2000.

Bibliography

1981

  • Bool, F.H. et al. M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1981; English-language edition, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982.

Wikidata ID

Q65574184

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