1013

Brueghel's composition of a vision of hell is teeming with spooky figures and devils. Such rugged hellscapes full of blazing flames, populated by all kinds of creepy creatures, had already been popular since the 15th century, as they could be used in painting for a variety of representations, for example in the field of mythology for the depiction of Orpheus and Eurydice as well as for Christian themes, such as in the Temptation of Saint Anthony. Starting with the famous Hieronymus Bosch (d. 1516 s'Hertogenbosch), Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1525/30-1569), his son Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) and his son Jan Brueghel the Younger followed as famous interpreters of such populated eerie landscapes. Dr Klaus Ertz dated the present painting to the late 1620s, a period in which artistic creation was still strongly influenced by the masterly father, but in which Jan Brueghel the Younger invented an original depiction of a hell scene with the present panel: "Here Jan Brueghel the Younger has created an independent composition with creepy figures and conflagrations. However, in the arrangement of the rocky landscape and the demons, he is very detailed in his brushwork, and in that he is still upholding his father's tradition. He is the one who has continued his father's painterly legacy at the highest level." (cf. Certificate by Dr. Ertz)