#hellscape

Source

— by John Martin

Dante’s Inferno — Canto Primo, 1947

Before exploding into the common vernacular in the 2010s, the term flickered into existence in the 20th century to describe the horrors of the world wars. The word blips up into usage again in the middle of the century to retroactively categorize the paintings of Jan van Eyck and Hieronymous Bosch, and to visualize World War II and Vietnam. The word itself is a portmanteau coming to us from the world of painting: the Dutch artists of the 1600s began to paint landscapes—extensive views of the natural scenery. Scape—from the Dutch suffix -scap, denoting “condition,”

BITES YOU BITES YOU BITES YOU BITES YOU