The Harrowing of Hell
manner of Hieronymus Bosch ('s-Hertogenbosch, Brabant c.1450 - 's-Hertogenbosch 1516)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1600 - 1679
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
365 x 1010 mm (14 3/8 x 39 3/4 in)
Place of origin
Netherlands
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139830
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Harrowing of Hell, in the manner of Hieronymus Bosch ('s-Hertogenbosch, Brabant c. 1450 - 's-Hertogenbosch 1516), 17th century. This painting depicts the biblical scene of when Christ descended into Hell after his death on the Cross and liberated the Old Testament figures like Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Noah, Moses and David imprisoned there. An account of it is told in an apocryphal manuscript, The Acts of Pilate.
Provenance
In 1679 inventory and thence by descent until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
manner of Hieronymus Bosch ('s-Hertogenbosch, Brabant c.1450 - 's-Hertogenbosch 1516), artist