Cittá dolente

Joos van Craesbeeck, The Temptation of St. Anthony. c. 1650.

Peter Paul Rubens, Head of Medusa. c. 1617-18.

Gustav Doré, Illustration for Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote, 1863. 

Hey guys, my apologies for the long hiatus (grad school) but I’m back now and ready to keep your dashboards filled with the macabre. Let’s start off with Death and the Miser, Hieronymous Bosch, c 1494–1516. 

Johannes Sadeler, “Hell.” 1590

Agostino Musi, “The Carcass (The Witches Procession).” c. 1520–1527

Cornelis Galle I, Lucifer. 1595

Memento Mori watch owned by Mary, Queen of Scots. 16th century. Engraved along the base of the skull is a verse from Horace: "Pale death visits with impartial foot the cottages of the poor and the castles of the rich." 

The inscription reads "vita fugitur, aesterna respice, caduca despice, incertita hora." (life is fleeting, look upon eternity, look down on a fallen thing, the hour of death is uncertain)

Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, prima cantica : Inferno. Con l’Ottimo Commento. 15th century. Illuminated by Bartolomeo di Fruosino and his atelier.

Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, prima cantica : Inferno. Con l’Ottimo Commento. 15th century. Illuminated by Bartolomeo di Fruosino and his atelier.

Latona, Python, Diana, Apollo. From a French manuscript c. 1510.

The Beast being worshipped. Apocalypse. England, beginning of the 14th century.

Holy Thorn Reliquary, c. 1390s. 

Relic of the Precious Blood. Likely Byzantine, now in the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges.

Relic of Saint Maximus from the Roman catacombs

Relic of Saint Alexander from the Roman catacombs