Christ's Descent into Limbo
ArtistCircle of
Gillis Mostaert
(North Netherlandish, born about 1528–1529, died 1598)
Datelate 1500s
Mediumoil on oak panel
Dimensions42 x 31.9 cm (16 9/16 x 12 9/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1951.2
Label TextChrist descending into Hell, or limbo, after his own death to release righteous souls into heaven became a very popular subject in European art in the 1500s. The notion of limbo developed in early Christianity to explain how worthy people who died before Jesus’s birth were—like the rest of humanity—redeemed by his sacrifice.
This scene includes numerous devils and beasts inspired by the work of Netherlandish painter Hieronymous Bosch. Here, demonic figures are armed with a variety of weaponry, including a musket that one fires towards the souls being freed by Christ, who carries a victory banner aloft.ProvenancePonsonby Moore of Moorefields, Kildare, Ireland, around 1869; Captain Arthur Mesham (1837-1918), Pontruffydd Hall, Bodfari, Wales, by 1876; his granddaughter, Eileen Moncrieffe, married to William T. Birchenough, Dunwood Manor, Romsey, England; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1950; sold to the Museum, 1951.On View
On view
