The WIP saga for those curious

"Why?" Wanted to see if I could

On Stained Glass Art

I did my best to replicate the religious purpose of stained glass windows through medieval Christian history, that being to convey Biblical stories visually to illiterate churchgoers. I also attempted to replicate historical & stylistic techniques, with mixed results- the main difference being a wider range of hues, and the detail limitations of my canvas (an insane thing to say about a 5000x7000 pixel canvas but this is not a medium for the sane)- and frankly, the limitations of my patience, because unlike medieval artists I am not being patronized by the Catholic church. Most of my digital stained glass replica art up to this point has been using purely the glass textures, but this sort of stained glass window was often intricately painted.

Unnecessarily Long-Winded Explanation Of The Whole Window

Okay I need you to understand that I am not pulling the rest of this post out of my ass, shout-out to Signs and Symbols in Christian Art by George Ferguson.

One of the difficulties with this whole concept was that, due to the medium itself, I'm trying to represent Minos's story from the perspective of the Church/Council, who condemned his actions and would've wanted this to be seen as a cautionary tale about defying heaven. (This is difficult because I think he's cool and awesome.) This is why the story stops with his corpse, and doesn't (explicitly) include his prime soul.

It's difficult to make it visually/aesthetically clear that his actions are meant to be condemned and his death was justified. I probably could've framed it differently, drawn him in a way that makes him look more sinister rather than in a way that would feel very reverent if the story stopped at panel 3, but I honestly like the ambiguity of this version. The story is interpreted very differently depending on whether you have empathy for the husks, or believe it's a perversion of justice, an act of defiance against God, to see them happy and thriving. Minos looks like a hero. He looks like someone to be revered, respected. And from one perspective, that's the cautionary aspect.

That being said- I was kind of interpreting this as a piece whose creation was ordered either by Heaven or by those sinners who were still believers, but ultimately made by the residents of Hell? I dunno man. So while the ultimate story is the same, there are some subtle aspects that don't entirely align with the Council's agenda:

Husks in the bottom windows: I don't actually have a direct source for this, but from what I've seen after looking at a lot of references, this sort of context-less alcove was usually used for saints, angels, etc- generic Good imagery that could be used without requiring much context. Replacing that imagery with husks: make of that what you will.

Caged dove: Birds in general can be used as a symbol for the soul. The cage is made of the roots of the tree of life for a very deep reason, that being because it's badass. The most 'overt' reference to his prime soul.

The raven, moon, sun and phoenix: There's a sort of double-meaning between viewing them in isolation vs as a whole. Individually, I think they kind of align with the story of Heaven: the raven, a symbol of death, referencing God's disappearance between panels 1&2; the moon followed by the sun referencing Heaven getting their shit together afterward, night becoming day; phoenix carrying along the same theme of being reborn from the ashes of God's disappearance, or whatever. In tandem though, they're symbols for the Magnum Opus in alchemy. I wasn't really sure about including these because I didn't want it to be a hollow gesture purely for the sake of aesthetics or "haha look at me I watched the dev stream" but I think there's enough here that while I may be reaching, I am grasping something. The parallel isn't 1:1, but I think there's enough of a common theme in Minos and Sisyphus's stories of transformation, transcendence, a sort of immortality of the soul (until u kill them lol)

The rest of it, from the top-down and then left-to-right:

Heart: tree of life.

Goats: Goats are a symbol in Christianity for sin in general, lust specifically. The fig branches they're eating are also symbols of lust (sometimes portrayed in place of apples as the unspecified forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, with fig leaves being what Adam and Eve cover themselves with afterward). Broken chain + decapitated because just a goat wasn't heavy-handed enough.

Snakes: Apart from the obvious 'Minos has snakes', ouroboros is a general symbol for eternity, cycles of creation/destruction, another alchemy connection. The skulls are there because I needed something to be there and skulls are cool.

Panel 1

Heart-shaped window: decorated with thorns, which represent grief, tribulation, and sin, and are also on Minos's face

Top of panel: shows Heaven while God's still kicking. Everything is in order, Heaven is keeping an eye on things. (I kind of had to balance game accuracy with stylization, but the fact that we haven't seen too many individual angels made me lean toward more traditional portrayals of them here.)

Minos wears a purple robe, a color associated with royalty (as well as sadness and penitence), and holds the scales of justice because he's still doing a good job as Judge of Hell at this point. The throne is just there symbolically to emphasize his position as a king / authority figure. The sky in the background has a bunch of souls floating around because that's what happens in Dante's Inferno and I think the artistic depictions of it are cool. Frankly it looks kind of fun. It's gotta be fun to be in the vortex for at least like the first 5 minutes right?

Foreground has sinners confessing their sins to him and then facing punishment (in a more metaphorical/stereotypical depiction of hell)

Panel 2

Heart-shaped window: decorated with olive branches, a symbol for peace as the Lust Renaissance begins.

Top of panel: Heaven in turmoil after the disappearance of God. The sky has gone dark, angels are distracted and facing away from Minos.

Minos in a green robe, symbolizing charity, regrowth, the triumph of life over death. He kneels among the people of Lust, less a supreme authority/judge and more a benevolent ruler and guide. Husks building Lust's city and helping rescue other sinners from Wrath in the foreground.

Panel 3

Heart-shaped window: figs = lust again

Top of panel: This one I'm still not 100% certain on because the Hell/eye connection is still kind of shaky in its specifics. I do feel fairly confident in that eye motif symbolizing Hell; this specific depiction of it was taken almost directly from the stained glass pieces in 1-4. The angels looked away but Hell sure didn't! This and Minos's corpse are the only proper, intact eyes in the whole piece, mostly in keeping with the rest of the game because I still have no solid idea what (if anything) the lack of eyes in Hell means thematically.

Minos stands among the finished city of Lust at the height of its renaissance, assuming the role of benevolent ruler and protector. The yellow robe is a symbol of treachery/betrayal (Judas is often portrayed in a yellow robe). He holds part of the city in his hands; I've seen this a few times in stained glass with religious authority figures holding a miniature churches. The heart is just... yeah he's giving life to the city or whatever, also it looks cool.

Foreground has husks living their best lives, they have clothes now because it's cold. One holding an olive branch (symbol of peace), the other writing, and of course the lesbian skeletons. You cannot tell that the skeletons are lesbians, but I'm telling you the skeletons are lesbians. The snakes are down here rather than on his arms as a sort of extension of himself protecting the citizens. In the greenery around them are poppies, which apart from their associations with WW1 and sleep/death, can also symbolize luxury, fertility and extravagance.

his toes are wet but try not to think about it

Panel 4

Heart-shaped window: Lilies are associated strongly with the archangel Gabriel.

Top of panel: Angels get their shit back together, notice what's happening in Lust and descend on it like angry wasps

This one's probably mostly self-explanatory, Minos being killed by Gabriel while attempting to reason with him. Only thing is Minos' black robe, representing death/mourning, and the fact that he's holding (or rather dropping) an olive branch.

Panel 5

Heart-shaped window: anemone flowers are associated with death/mourning.

Top of panel: The Council formally established and watching over Hell.