Despite its veneer of monolithic constancy, hell is always changing from one age or work of art to the next. Its ready-made iconography of fire and brimstone, demons and sinners makes it instantly recognisable and relatable while at the same time offering a wide-open space for wild and exciting flights of fancy. Nowhere is the perennial appeal of hell more apparent than in Bosch's interpretations. Hieronymus Bosch, The Last Judgement, detail (1482) Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights (late 15th, early 16th century) Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, detail There are bridges, lakes, cities, mountains, and above all, great plains overrun by throngs of sinners and demons. 1482) and The Garden of Earthly Delights (late 15th, early 16th century), hell is still chaotic and badly lit to say the least, but unlike other renditions, the abyss has a geography just like any other place. In the two triptychs The Last Judgement (ca.

The most well-known of all attempts to capture hell were without a doubt undertaken by Hieronymus Bosch, famous for his surreal scenes, incredible attention to detail and whimsical creatures. :: The 20 best Nintendo Switch games you can play right now Jan van Eyck, The Crucifixion and The Last Judgement (1430s) Jan van Eyck, The Last Judgement, detail Hans Memling, The Last Judgement, detail (1460s) It's a vertical place, with sinners tumbling down from above. In Hans Memling's interpretation of The Last Judgement (1460s), hell is defined by smoke, fire and a jagged cliff side. This hell is a writhing mass of grotesque bodies where sinners are torn to pieces by a wild menagerie of spiked and grinning demons a morbid and decadent sight strikingly similar to the most provocative of heavy metal cover artworks. Death divides with his spread-out wings the world above from the demons and sinners below and creates a place that follows a very different spatial logic from the world above. In Jan van Eyck's The Last Judgement (1430s), hell is marked by an absence of geography. In the background, hell appears as a uniform and grey landscape of jagged mountains and fiery caves. 1412), we see a crowned and bestial Satan torturing the souls of the damned, but he himself, laying on a burning pit, is being tormented as well - not unlike the fallen angels of Paradise Lost. In the illuminated pages of the TrГЁs Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (ca. After all, hell has been a favourite subject in art and literature for hundreds, even thousands of years, and the sights we encounter in a short stroll through art history are at least as horrific as even the bloodiest excesses so often condemned in games. Of course, games are nothing special in this regard. That comes to all but torture without end Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peaceДЄnd rest can never dwell, hope never comes And what better place to conclude your game than hell itself? What better villains to fight than the citizens of Pandemonium? Hell has found a steady home in many kinds of games, and its popularity shows no sign of abating.ДЄs one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames Few fantasy RPGs or horror games could be considered complete without at least a quick excursion into the domain of demons and sinners. If the games we play are anything to go by, the depths of hell are one of humankind's favourite destinations when it comes to travels of the mind.

Dark souls 3 or doom