Angel Musicians (left panel)
HANS MEMLING
1480
Psalterion, Trompe marine, Luth, Sacqueboute, Chalemie
Angel Musicians (left panel)
HANS MEMLING
1480
Psalterion, Trompe marine, Luth, Sacqueboute, Chalemie
Well… Bosch.
Garden of Earthly Delights
Detail showing the “Prince of Hell”. Gibson compares the monster to a similar figure in the 12th century Irish religious text Vision of Tundale, who feeds on the souls of corrupt and lecherous clergy.
Sitting on an object that may be a toilet or a throne, the panel’s centerpiece is a gigantic bird-headed monster feasting on human corpses, which he excretes through a cavity below him, into the transparent chamber pot on which he sits. The monster is sometimes referred to as the “Prince of Hell”, a name derived from the cauldron he wears on his head, perhaps representing a debased crown.