Christ in Limbo

religious

As a fulfillment of redemption, Christ, having broken open the gates of hell, has brought with him the pious figures of the Old Testament, holding Adam by the hand as the symbolical incorporation of the whole of humanity. Allusions to this forced invasion, a favoured incident of popular legends and mystery plays, are found even in the Divine Comedy; here it is indicated by cracked and broken stones. It is typical of medieval thinking that hell is represented as a well-guarded building of huge stones, a sort of immense fortified prison; the notions of release, heaven, enjoyment of the delights of Paradise, are conveyed by a fresh green meadow encircled by mountains and forests of fantastic shape, worthy of the imagination of a Tyrolese painter.

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About the Artist

Friedrich Pacher

Austrian painter. Although he may initially have assisted Michael Pacher in his workshop in Bruneck, their kinship remains unproven. He was entrusted with parochial and judicial duties in Bruneck, which indicates his own successful career. A considerable oeuvre has been attributed to him by stylistic comparisons with his only signed work, the Baptism (1483, Frauenkirche, Munich).

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