La naturaleza del diablo como personaje cristiano es ir en contra de los planes de Dios, por lo tanto condensa en su figura toda la esencia maligna. Su representación en el arte es la plasmación en imágenes de la personalidad y carácter definido por la Biblia y exégetas de la Sagrada Escritura, y difundido y divulgado por los predicadores. Especialmente en la Edad Media y adoctrinando a un público preferentemente inculto, se sirvió la Iglesia de la estética del terror para infundir miedo a los fieles, representando un demonio de rostro temible y cuerpo animal dotado de atributos faunísticos.
El infierno como lugar de condena de los pecados cometidos en la tierra, ocupaba los espacios más visibles y característicos del edificio para advertir a los fieles de los terrores y penas que le podían esperar en el más allá si continuaba con su vida de pecador.
El Averno es el lugar opuesto al Paraíso, para ello en su representación se caracteriza por el uso de una arquitectura y configuración opuesta al lugar celestial. En el Románico se oponían ambos espacios por medio de una iconografía viva y orgánica, así del acogedor Seno de Abraham se pasaba al devorador monstruo de Leviatán:
Izquierda: El Hombre-Árbol en el Jardín de las Delicias. Derecha: Infierno del Carro del heno. Ambas obras del Bosco, ppios del s. XVI.
The nature of the devil, as a Christian character, is to go against God’s plans; so it is that all evil is concentrated in his person. The representation of the devil in art is the portrayal in images of his personality and character as defined by the Bible and exegetes of the Sacred Scripture and divulged and spread by preachers. In the Middle Ages especially, indoctrinating a preferably uneducated public, the Church used the aesthetic of terror to implant fear in the faithful, portraying a demon with a fearful countenance and the body of an animal with the attributes of a faun.
Estella. Iglesia de San Miguel, portada: Seno de Abraham y Boca de Leviatán (Fines del s. XII)
La escena del juicio del alma, la visión de los dos destinos posibles, el cielo y el infierno, y por consiguiente la contemplación de la vida beatífica y serena en el Paraíso frente a los horrores del castigo eterno en el Infierno, ocupaban en época medieval, especialmente en el arte gótico, el portal principal de las catedrales e iglesias, como aviso al fiel del futuro que le podía esperar en el más allá y la polaridad de destinos que le aguardaban según su comportamiento en la tierra. Así como la figuración de los diablos responde a tradiciones artísticas anteriores y a la demonización de los antiguos dioses paganos, la imaginación del Infierno tiene mucho de la justicia terrestre y coetánea de la época en que se representa como un ejemplo para los pecadores y una visión más cercana y conocida de las condenas semejantes al castigo de los delitos en la tierra. Al ser el Infierno el mundo al revés, Satanás ocupa el lugar protagonista como imagen inversa de Dios en el Cielo, se rodea de sus consejeros y vasallos que obedecen sus órdenes. En muchas ocasiones y esto al hilo de la culturización de la sociedad laica aparecen diablos con libros, pluma y papel que leen las faltas de los representados.
Si el Paraíso está arriba, el Infierno está abajo; si el primero es luminoso, el segundo es oscuro y a veces está ubicado en un abismo o pozo tenebroso. El sur lugar cálido y de temperatura agradable se opone al norte, frío y siniestro, donde los comentaristas de la Biblia y predicadores creen que está el trono de Satanás. En ocasiones el diablo tiene rostro trifronte como una parodia de la Trinidad a la que imita, o se acompaña de su enviado el Anticristo, imitando la figura de Dios Padre y Jesucristo; otras veces se rodea de diablos que componen un Tetramorfos infernal opuesto al Celestial que se dispone en el lugar opuesto. Con el tiempo y con la ayuda de su propia reflexión, el hombre se dio cuenta de que el infierno no era un lugar ajeno a él como un destino fatal para su alma, sino que lo estaba forjando con sus delitos y faltas. Así al final de la Edad Media y en el comienzo de la Edad Moderna, autores como el Bosco y Brueghel incidieron en sus pinturas en la elaboración de este lugar con las malas acciones de los hombres, frente a la culpa que se le había otorgado hasta la fecha al demonio quien pasa a perder protagonismo en su propio reino:
Izquierda: El Hombre-Árbol en el Jardín de las Delicias. Derecha: Infierno del Carro del heno. Ambas obras del Bosco, ppios del s. XVI.
El lugar infernal es una oposición al Cielo al igual que el diablo es una figura opuesta a Dios. El nacimiento y génesis de este personaje tan maléfico tiene lugar en el Paraíso y el acto de rebeldía movido por la soberbia que protagoniza contra su Creador le lleva a ser expulsado, seguido de sus compañeros convertidos también en ángeles rebeldes:
Frans Floris, Caída de los ángeles rebeldes, s. XVI
A partir de ahí la acción de Satanás será ir contra el hombre y tentarle para conseguir almas para su causa. Provocar a Adán y Eva en el Edén será la primera de sus acciones, que aumentará la distancia contra su creador y el origen del mal en el mundo. El pecado original es una escena necesaria y repetida en la iconografía cristiana y supone también la primera representación del diablo en el arte:
Adán y Eva, Catacumba de los santos Marcelino y Pedro. Roma, s. III d.C.
Tras la desobediencia a Dios de Adán y Eva, sigue el primer homicidio con la muerte de Abel por Caín, y el acoso de Satán a otros personajes veterotestamentarios como Job. Pero con la llegada de Cristo a la tierra, el diablo orientará toda su acción a ir contra Jesús y sus planes salvíficos. Encontramos su figura de forma encubierta o clara en los distintos pasajes de la vida de Cristo, desde su concepción al Nacimiento y matanza de los Inocentes; posteriormente tienta a Cristo tras el retiro de éste en el desierto. Curiosamente este tema evangélico de las tres tentaciones de Cristo es uno de los más repetidos en el arte cristiano y que más evoluciona en iconografía al hilo de las distintas tendencias artísticas:
Juan de Flandes: Tres tentaciones de Cristo, ppios. s. XVI.
Jesús se opone al diablo exorcizando posesos en escenarios conocidos como Cafárnaum y Gerasa. El diablo acompaña a Cristo y trata de entorpecer su labor mesiánica hasta la Crucifixión y consiguiente Descenso a los Infiernos. Pero después es un personaje derrotado y vencido que desaparece en los episodios de la gloria y resurrección de Jesús. Su labor tentadora continuará con los Apóstoles como herederos y difusores de la palabra de Dios, los santos y el común de los mortales.
La imagen que le da la iconografía para definir su acción maléfica participa de los rasgos más repulsivos y horrendos como corresponden a su naturaleza demoníaca. Los cuernos, el vello por todo el cuerpo, el rabo y las garras en los pies remiten al mundo animal. Desde la Edad Modernala Reconquista ; también rojo por las llamas del infierno, amarillo como referencia a los hebreos y el verde por la piel de los reptiles.
Además el judío, como grupo religioso que mata a Cristo y se opone al mensaje del evangelio prestará sus rasgos al diablo en ocasiones llegando a una verdadera simbiosis. Ya hemos nombrado el color gualdo que ha llegado hasta nuestros días como signo de mala suerte, y tiene su origen en ser el tono prescrito en la ropa de los judíos que permite se les distinga de los cristianos. Rasgos faciales del hebreo como la nariz ganchuda colaboran a definir el rostro diabólico hasta la actualidad, en una época en que el anatema cristiano contra los judíos ya no pervive. Esta peculiar nariz sumados a defectos físicos como la cojera, que recuerdan su imperfección ontológica, contribuyen a imaginar el demonio en una época, la contemporánea, en la que predomina la figura de Satanás humano:
Busto de Mefistófeles en bronce y marfil, s. XIX (Imagen tomada de RUSSELL, G.B.; The prince of darkness, New York, 1993)
También el diablo se disfraza de animales que en sus rasgos y comportamiento simbolizan la imagen del mal. La serpiente como animal tentador presente en la Biblia , el mono como imitador de Dios, la salamandra como reptil que vive en el fuego. Además existen otros simbolismos faunísticos que se oponen al contenido positivo de ciertos animales, así al león de Judá se opone el león infernal, al ciervo como imagen del alma cristiana y su búsqueda de la eternidad, se opone a la cornamenta de este animal presente en el diablo; al pavo real como alusión a la vida eterna se opone el simbolismo de este ave como imagen del orgullo cuyas plumas rematan también la cabeza de la serpiente en el Edén. Junto a los animales aparecerán los alimentos que mueven al pecado, así a las cerezas como fruto del Paraíso se opone la manzana, y otras especies con valor claramente sexual como las almejas, ostras y peces. Tambien hay flores y plantas amarillas, malditas por su color y plantas alucinógenas que son usadas por las brujas en sus brebajes.
La evolución del diablo en el arte tiene mucho de la creencia en él y en la doctrina de la Iglesia. Enla Edad MediaLa Iglesia adoctrina con parábolas bíblicas sobre la importancia de oír y seguir la palabra de Dios, y en otras escenas se condena la pereza, el ocio y el juego como actividades mundanas que alejan al hombre de los oficios religiosos.
El miedo a su figura no sólo se deduce de lo temible de las imágenes sino también de los destrozos sufridos por éstas.
El paso al Humanismo contribuye a humanizar al diablo, quien desde una forma humana deja ver rasgos de su anatomía como los cuernos, la cola o las patas. Además del diablo, el mal se personifica en grupos que suponen un grave atentado para la Iglesia por ocasionar cismas y rupturas en su seno o practicar una religión heterodoxa, aquí incluimos los herejes y brujas, quienes además se asocian invariablemente a la figura del gato con valor diabólico.
El Romanticismo supone una ruptura en la valoración de este personaje. Se recupera su figura como personaje admirado capaz de rebelarse contra su creador y de continuar en su afrenta, confiriendo a su imagen un aspecto atractivo, seductor, de porte elegante y muy inteligente, aunque en el uso de estas cualidades sea sibilino y engañoso. Esta recuperación de la figura demoníaca al margen de Dios y sin ser un mero imitador suyo, supone un canto de cisne del Maligno quien habría de perder su poder y naturaleza en el s.XX al hilo del laicismo imperante. Si Dios no existe desaparece con él su principal oponente, sobre todo si tenemos en cuenta que las nuevas corrientes filosóficas, materialistas y positivistas, afirman que el mal está en nuestro interior y es fruto de nuestro perverso comportamiento.
El diablo podía haber desaparecido sino fuera porque toda la demonología creada a través de siglos de gestación de su figura, resucitara y perviviera en la cultura popular, cediendo su nombre a grupos de rock, personajes de cómic, juegos de ordenador en los que se recuerdan aquellos dioses del panteón clásico que fueron demonizados en la predicación cristiana, tales como Lilith, Beelzebub, Belfegor. El demonio también presta su figura a simpáticos anuncios publicitarios o renace con sus seductores atributos en personajes de cuento:
Ambrus, ilustración de un diablo para Los Cuentos de Canterbury; Ed. Lognman, 1992.
Actualmente y gracias a los medios de comunicación masiva como el cine y la televisión, identificamos con un ser perverso y maligno, sin necesidad de ser el diablo, a un personaje de piel blanca (palidez que remite a la muerte y da frialdad al representado), nariz aguileña, mirada siniestra y penetrante, de comportamiento seductor y engañoso. Igualmente en la literatura y cine de terror, el otro yo, la sombra o el reflejo en el espejo pasan a tener connotaciones negativas y maléficas. En realidad, estos rasgos físicos y psicológicos deben mucho al sustrato demoníaco e infernal que subyace en nuestra cultura.
Summary
Hell as a place of punishment for sins committed on Earth occupied the most visible and characteristic spaces of the building in order to warn the faithful of the terrors and sorrows which they might expect in the beyond if they continued with their sinful life.
Hell is diametrically opposed to Paradise , so its representation is characterised by the use of an architecture and configuration opposed to the celestial place. In the Romanesque period, both spaces were opposed by means of a lively and organic iconography. So it is that we pass from the charming Abraham’s Bosom to the monstrous predator Leviathan:
Estella (Navarra): Church of Saint Michael: Bossom of Abraham and the mouth of Leviathan, s. XII
In medieval times, especially in Gothic art, the main entrance to churches and cathedrals was taken up by the scene of the judgement of the soul, the vision of the two possible destinations, heaven and hell, and following on this, the contemplation of the saintly and serene life in Paradise as opposed to the horrors of eternal punishment in Hell. This served as a warning to the faithful of what they could expect in the beyond and the destinations that awaited them depending on their behaviour on Earth. Just as the representation of devils responds to previous artistic traditions and the demonisation of ancient pagan gods, the way Hell is imagined has much to do with contemporary terrestrial justice at the time it is represented, so it might serve as an example for sinners and a more recognisable and familiar vision of the punishments, similar to those given for offences committed on Earth.
As Hell is the World in reverse, Satan occupies the protagonist’s place as an inverse image of God in Heaven, surrounded by his counsellors and vassals. On many occasions, in tune with the increasing culture of lay society, devils appear with books, pens and paper, reading out the faults of the represented.
If Heaven is above, Hell is below; if the former is bright and luminous the latter is dark and sometimes located in an abyss or dark chasm. The south, a warm place of pleasant temperatures is contrasted with the north, cold and sinister, where preachers and those commenting the Bible believe the throne of Satan to be. On occasions the devil has a three-sided face as a parody of the Holy Trinity which he is imitating or he is accompanied by his messenger, the Antichrist, in imitation of the figures of God the Father and Jesus Christ. At other times he is surrounded by devils who make up an infernal Tetramorph, in contrast to the heavenly one which takes place in the opposing place. With the passing of time and the help of his own reflections, man realised that Hell is not a place distant from him as a terrible destination for his soul but that he was forging it through his misdemeanours and bad behaviour. So it was that at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era, artists like Bosch and Brueghel in their paintings showed this place to be constructed through the evil actions of men as opposed to the blame which had been attached to the devil up to then, with him going on to play a lesser role in his own kingdom.
As Hell is the World in reverse, Satan occupies the protagonist’s place as an inverse image of God in Heaven, surrounded by his counsellors and vassals. On many occasions, in tune with the increasing culture of lay society, devils appear with books, pens and paper, reading out the faults of the represented.
If Heaven is above, Hell is below; if the former is bright and luminous the latter is dark and sometimes located in an abyss or dark chasm. The south, a warm place of pleasant temperatures is contrasted with the north, cold and sinister, where preachers and those commenting the Bible believe the throne of Satan to be. On occasions the devil has a three-sided face as a parody of the Holy Trinity which he is imitating or he is accompanied by his messenger, the Antichrist, in imitation of the figures of God the Father and Jesus Christ. At other times he is surrounded by devils who make up an infernal Tetramorph, in contrast to the heavenly one which takes place in the opposing place. With the passing of time and the help of his own reflections, man realised that Hell is not a place distant from him as a terrible destination for his soul but that he was forging it through his misdemeanours and bad behaviour. So it was that at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era, artists like Bosch and Brueghel in their paintings showed this place to be constructed through the evil actions of men as opposed to the blame which had been attached to the devil up to then, with him going on to play a lesser role in his own kingdom.
Left: The tree-man in Hell of the Garden of Earthly Delights. Right: Hell of the Haywain triptych, both of them by Jerome Bosch, s. XVI
Hell as a space is in opposition to Heaven just as the devil is opposed to God. The birth and genesis of such an evil character takes place in Paradise and the act of rebellion against his Creator, caused by pride, resulted in him being expelled from Heaven, followed by his companions who had also become rebellious angels.
Frans Floris, Fallen angels, s. XVI
From here on, Satan would go against man and tempt him in order to obtain souls for his cause. To tempt Adam and Eve in Eden
Adam and Eve, Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Rome, s. III d.C.
After Adam and Eve’s disobedience came the first murder with the killing of Abel by Cain and Satan’s harassment of other Old Testament characters like Job. But with the coming of Christ the devil would turn all his attention to opposing Jesus and his plans for the salvation of man. We find his figure, hidden or distinct, in the different passages of the life of Christ, from his conception to birth and the slaughter of the Innocents. Then we find him tempting Christ during his retreat in the desert. Curiously enough, this evangelic theme of the three temptations of Christ is one of the most repeated in Christian art and which evolves most in the iconography through the different artistic trends.
John of Flanders, Tempation of Christ in the Wilderness, s. XVI
Jesus opposes the devil exorcising possessed people in the well known episodes of Cafarnaum and Gerasa. The devil accompanies Christ and tries to obstruct his messianic work until the Crucifixion and his descent into Hell. However, afterwards, he is a character, beaten and defeated, who disappears from the glorious episodes and the Resurrection of Christ. His labour of temptation would continue with the Apostles as heirs spreading the word of God, the saints and common mortals.
The image given him in iconography to define his evil actions uses the most horrendous and repulsive features as correspond to his demoniacal nature. The horns, hair all over the body, tail and claws on his feet take us back to the animal world. With the Modern Era, the resurgence of classical mythology introduces new satirical faun elements and gods like that of Bacchus, Pan. His skin colour can be black, alluding to the Moslem enemy, especially in countries like Spain in their hard struggle against the latter while winning back the peninsula. It can also be red for the flames of Hell, yellow in reference to the Hebrews or green for reptiles’ skin.
The Jews besides being the religious group that killed Christ and opposed the evangelic message lend their features to the devil attaining a real symbiosis on occasions. We have already mentioned the colour yellow, which remains to this day a sign of bad luck and has its origin in the colour prescribed for Jews’ clothing to distinguish it from that of the Christians. The Hebrews’ facial features such as the hook nose still help to define the devil’s face nowadays in an era in which the Christian aversion to the Jews no longer survives. These features, allied to physical defects such as lameness which remind us of his onthological imperfection, help to portray the devil in this contemporary era in which the figure of a human Satan predominates.
Sculpture of Mephistopheles in bronze and ivory, s. XIX (Image from RUSSELL, G.B.; The prince of darkness, New York, 1993)
The devil is also disguised as animals whose behaviour and features symbolise evil. The snake, present in the Bible in its role of tempter; the monkey as an imitator of God and the salamander as a reptile that inhabits fire. Other faun like symbolism exists as a counterpart to the positive aspect of certain animals. The lion of Judea as opposed to the lion of Hell; the deer as a symbol of the Christian soul in its search for eternity as opposed to the horns of the same creature on the devil; the peacock as an allusion to eternity as opposed to its symbolism as an image of pride, and whose feathers adorn the snake’s head in the Garden of Eden. As well as animals, there are foods which lead one to sin. So we have the cherry as a fruit of Paradise as opposed to the apple; and other species with a clearly sexual connotation such as clams, oysters and fish. There are also yellow flowers and plants cursed by their colour and hallucinogenic plants used by witches in their brews.
The evolution of the devil in art owes much to the belief in him and to the Church’s doctrines. In the Middle Ages, the demon has monstrous animal features. It is shown as being the same size as positive figures. It occupies a prominent place on buildings, parallel to sacred and beatific figures, to emphasise the contrast and opposition between good and evil. Devils are personified; they acquire names which remind us of gods of the Phoenician and classical pantheon, opposed to the true Christian religion. Their temptations and power over men bring us to mortal sin: Lucifer leads us to pride, Asmodeus to lust, Mammon to avarice. Lilith and other female devils are blamed for infant mortality. The Church indoctrinates us with Biblical parables on the importance of hearing and following the Word of God. In other scenes, it condemns laziness, leisure and gaming as worldly activities which lead man away from the religious offices. The fear inspired by his figure comes not only from the fearsome images but also the damage suffered by these.
The progress to Humanism contributes to the humanisation of the devil, who in his human form still lets such anatomical features as his horns, tail or hooves be seen. As well as the devil, evil is personified in groups which pose a serious threat to the Church, on account of causing schisms or other ruptures or of practising a hetherodox religion. Here heretics and witches are included and invariably associated with the figure of a cat with its devilish connotations.
With Romanticism came a re-evaluation of the figure of the devil. He was once again admired as a character capable of rebelling against his creator and continuing with his opposition. This conferred on his image an attractive and seductive appearance, of an elegant and very intelligent bearing although in the use of these qualities he might be astute and deceitful. This recovery of the figure of the demon, unconnected to God and not merely an imitator of him was the swan song for the Evil One who would lose his nature and power in the 20th century. If God doesn’t exist, neither does his counterpart, especially if we take into account what the new philosophical, materialist and positivist trends state. That is that evil exists inside of us and is the fruit of our perverse behaviour.
The devil could have disappeared had not all the demonization of his figure created over centuries revived and lived on in popular culture, giving name to rock formations, comic characters and computer games, in which those gods of the classical pantheon that were demonised through Christian preaching, such as Lilith, Beelzebub and Belfegor are remembered.
The evolution of the devil in art owes much to the belief in him and to the Church’s doctrines. In the Middle Ages, the demon has monstrous animal features. It is shown as being the same size as positive figures. It occupies a prominent place on buildings, parallel to sacred and beatific figures, to emphasise the contrast and opposition between good and evil. Devils are personified; they acquire names which remind us of gods of the Phoenician and classical pantheon, opposed to the true Christian religion. Their temptations and power over men bring us to mortal sin: Lucifer leads us to pride, Asmodeus to lust, Mammon to avarice. Lilith and other female devils are blamed for infant mortality. The Church indoctrinates us with Biblical parables on the importance of hearing and following the Word of God. In other scenes, it condemns laziness, leisure and gaming as worldly activities which lead man away from the religious offices. The fear inspired by his figure comes not only from the fearsome images but also the damage suffered by these.
The progress to Humanism contributes to the humanisation of the devil, who in his human form still lets such anatomical features as his horns, tail or hooves be seen. As well as the devil, evil is personified in groups which pose a serious threat to the Church, on account of causing schisms or other ruptures or of practising a hetherodox religion. Here heretics and witches are included and invariably associated with the figure of a cat with its devilish connotations.
With Romanticism came a re-evaluation of the figure of the devil. He was once again admired as a character capable of rebelling against his creator and continuing with his opposition. This conferred on his image an attractive and seductive appearance, of an elegant and very intelligent bearing although in the use of these qualities he might be astute and deceitful. This recovery of the figure of the demon, unconnected to God and not merely an imitator of him was the swan song for the Evil One who would lose his nature and power in the 20th century. If God doesn’t exist, neither does his counterpart, especially if we take into account what the new philosophical, materialist and positivist trends state. That is that evil exists inside of us and is the fruit of our perverse behaviour.
The devil could have disappeared had not all the demonization of his figure created over centuries revived and lived on in popular culture, giving name to rock formations, comic characters and computer games, in which those gods of the classical pantheon that were demonised through Christian preaching, such as Lilith, Beelzebub and Belfegor are remembered.
The demon lends his figure to commercial advertisements or is reborn with all his seductive attributes as a character in tales:
Ambrus, a devil illustration for Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. Ed.Longman, 1992
Currently, thanks in large part to mass media such as television and the cinema, we identify with an evil and perverse being (not necessarially the devil), a pale-skinned character ( paleness reminds us of death and endows coldness), with a hook nose and a penetrating and sinister gaze; of deceitful but seductive behaviour. Equally, in literature and terror cinema, the alter ego, the shadow self or reflection in the mirror take on negative and evil connotations. In reality, these physical and psychological features owe much to the infernal and demonical image in our cultural subconscious.
